Tenant Cops Plea To Forgery After Befriending Elderly Landlord, Then Looting Her Bank Account, Leaving Homes In Foreclosure

In Vista, California, San Diego News Network reports:

• A woman who forged her landlord’s checks and temporarily forced the victim’s two homes into foreclosure pleaded guilty [...] to four counts of passing forged checks. Jacqueline Mastrodimos, 38, agreed to a four-year prison term when she is sentenced on March 1 by Superior Court Judge Daniel Goldstein, Deputy District Attorney Anna Winn said.

• Authorities said Mastrodimos rented a room in 2005 in the Carlsbad home of Julie Johansen, who is in her 60s, and soon became involved in the victim’s finances.(1) The mortgage on the Dehesa Court home went unpaid from January to August 2008, and Johansen didn’t realize there was a problem until she saw a notice on her front gate that the property would be sold at auction in three weeks, police said. A Carmel Valley condominium was in foreclosure for the same reason. Johansen was able to avoid losing the properties but had to pay substantial penalties. [...] Meanwhile, Johansen still has “a horrible financial condition” because of Mastrodimos’ actions, Winn said. She is unable to open a new bank account and has seen her credit score plunge, according to the prosecutor.

For the story, see Plea deal reached in Carlsbad rental forgery.

(1) Reportedly, Mastrodimos wrote checks to herself from the victim’s account, took out credit cards in Johansen’s name and used the woman’s automated teller machine card at casinos, detectives said.