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

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

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

An indictment says Cantu, along with other co-conspirators, devised a scheme to defraud people looking to purchase property. The indictment says Cantu worked with an employee of an unnamed company, where she falsely and fraudulently obtained money by creating fraudulent closing documents.

“This scheme is a real estate scheme designed to perpetuate a ‘get rich quick’ fraud,” the indictment continues.

A company employee, referred to as “Person A,” would promise buyers properties in South Texas. According to the indictment, Person A relied on Cantu to “create fraudulent real estate documents and falsify the release of liens.”

This would allow them to sell the same property multiple times, or sell it without giving up existing liens, according to the indictment.

Additionally, Cantu is accused of creating a fake email account that closely resembled the email address of a legitimate privilege holder in order to sow confusion. As a result, large sums of money were obtained by the company and Cantu was paid in cash on several occasions for her role in the scheme, the document states.

The document states that on November 19, 2020, Cantu and Person A conspired to create an email address similar to that of a lien holder in order to make 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 forwarded the email to her assistant. The assistant then used it to request a fraudulent payment amount, the document states.

According to the indictment, a wire communication was received via cell phone, which was then sent via her assistant's email address, [email protected] and [email protected].

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

Records show the case is “related” to the indictment of Mario Alberto Rodriguez, who was arrested on the same charges on December 6, 2023.

An indictment said Rodriguez, owner of a company called Mar Construction, would promise buyers land with a completed townhouse in Shary Oaks, a Mission neighborhood. Mar Construction reportedly accepted large sums of money as a deposit, but the property was never delivered as promised.

Cantu made his first 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.