Guilty Verdits in Westside Mortgage Fraud Case

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A Beverly Hills real estate agent to the stars and an appraiser were convicted Monday on federal charges of conspiracy and bank fraud for their roles in a multimillion-dollar Westside real estate fraud ring. Jurors couldn’t reach a verdict on another prominent agent accused of being part of the scheme.

Real estate agent Kyle Grasso, 38, and licensed appraiser Lila Rizk, 42, were found guilty of multiple counts of conspiracy, bank fraud and loan fraud for their participation in a scheme in which banks lost more than $40 million on loans totaling $142 million. Joseph A. Babajian, 56, the lead defendant in the case, was acquitted on 13 criminal counts, and the jury didn’t reach a verdict on eight other counts.

The fraud ring included developers, agents and appraisers who bought relatively modest houses in some of the area’s most expensive neighborhoods. They then inflated the homes’ value to get loans. Babajian and Grasso’s real estate clients included soccer star David Beckham and boxer Oscar De La Hoya.



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