Local man arrested in Nevada fraud case

A Huntington Beach man was arrested Friday in connection with a mortgage fraud case in Nevada, a spokeswoman for the Nevada attorney general’s office confirmed.

Justin M. Sabo, 30, was arrested by the Huntington Beach Police Department on a warrant from the Nevada Attorney General and charged with theft, mortgage fraud, identity theft and forgery, spokeswoman Edie Cartwright said.

Two other men, Thomas F. Gentile, 56, and Julio C. Martinez, 61, both of Las Vegas, had already been arrested on the same charges.

The three allegedly engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain a mortgage loan against a property owned by Gentile’s former employer, Cartwright said. An investigation by the attorney general’s office alleged that Sabo, Gentile and Martinez obtained and used the victim’s personal information to obtain a $65,000 mortgage loan, she said.

Sabo was booked at Orange County Jail, and Nevada authorities are looking to extradite him back to their state, Cartwright said.

— Michael Miller