Feds: Local woman arrested for 'get rich quick' real estate scheme

McALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — A woman was arrested by federal authorities Tuesday for her role in a real estate fraud scheme, documents revealed.

Mayela Saby Cantu was arrested in McAllen on a charge of fraud by wire, radio or television, according to federal records.

An indictment states that Cantu, along with other co-conspirators, devised a scheme to defraud people who were looking to purchase property. The indictment states that Cantu worked with an employee of an unnamed company, in which she would falsely and fraudulently obtain money by creating fraudulent closing documents.

"This scheme is a property/real estate scheme designed to perpetuate a 'get rich quick' fraud," the indictment continues.

An employee of the company, referred to as "Person A", would promise purchasers properties in South Texas. According to the indictment, Person A relied on Cantu to "create fraudulent real estate documents and falsified release of liens."

This would allow them to sell the same property multiple times, or sell it without releasing existing liens, the indictment alleges.

In addition, Cantu is accused of creating a fake email account that closely resembled the email of a legitimate lien holder in order to cause confusion. As a result, large sums of money were obtained by the company, and Cantu was paid in cash in multiple occasions for her role in the scheme, the document stated.

The document states that on Nov. 19, 2020, Cantu and Person A conspired to create an email address similar to a lien holder in order to release payments to the company that they were not entitled to receive. Person A sent the fake email address to Cantu in a text message, who then provided the email to her assistant. The assistant then used it to request fraudulent payoff amount, the document stated.

According to the indictment, a wire communication was received via cellphone, which was later sent via her assistant's email address ylopez@sierratitle.com and mcantu@sierratitle.com.

On the Sierra Title website, Mayela Cantu is listed as an Escrow Officer.

Records show that the case is "related" to the indictment of Mario Alberto Rodriguez, who was arrested on the same charges on Dec. 6, 2023.

An indictment stated that Rodriguez, who owned a company titled Mar Construction, would promise purchasers a piece of property with a completed town home in Shary Oaks, a neighborhood in Mission. Mar Construction allegedly accepted large amounts of money for down payments, but the property was never delivered as promised.

Cantu made her initial appearance in federal court Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Nadia S. Medrano. If convicted, Cantu faces a maximum sentence of 20 years and a fine of up to $250,000.