Robert Sedlar was sentenced to more than 25 years in California state prison after being convicted on 100 felony counts for carrying out a $7 million scheme targeted vulnerable homeowners in 11 counties across the state.
Sedlar was the president of Grand View Financial LLC, a purported mortgage “investment” company that advertised assistance to desperate homeowners facing foreclosure. The victims were located in the California counties of San Diego, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin, Placer, Solano, Mendocino, San Francisco, El Dorado, and Sacramento.
The company promised consumers that if they transferred the title of their house to Grandview Financial and paid money, it would eliminate the mortgage lien and deed the home back to the homeowner, clear of any liens. During this time, the company filed false court documents, false documents with the county recorders offices, and false bankruptcies that stalled the foreclosures but did nothing to eliminate the liens, all while collecting funds from the victims. Every single victim lost their homes as a result and the scheme resulted in a combined loss of more than $7 million.
After a five-week trial in Sacramento County, Sedlar was found guilty in May of conspiracy as well as multiple counts of filing a false document, grand theft, elder abuse, and prohibited acts by a foreclosure consultant. Two other employees of Grand View Financial — Steven Rogers and Audrey Gan — previously pleaded guilty to charges of grand theft, elder abuse and prohibited acts by a foreclosure consultant.
The prosecution was carried out by the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Fraud and Special Prosecutions Section (SPS). The indictment and arrests in this case were the result of a joint investigation by SPS, DOJ’s White Collar Investigation Team; the United States Office of Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; the United States Office of Inspector General, Federal Housing Finance Agency; the United States Trustee Program; the United States Marshals Service; the Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office; the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office; the United States Trustees, Los Angeles Field Office, and United States Trustee Peter Anderson.