How a man tried to steal a $4.8 million beach house with ‘a few pieces of paper’ — and got caught
A California man has been convicted of trying to steal a $4.8 million beach home by filing false property records and then showing the forged papers to locksmiths on “multiple occasions” to try to convince them to let him inside.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday that Khambray Antoine Holloway was convicted on one of the three criminal charges stemming from the alleged scheme, which took place earlier this year.
Holloway, 34, was first taken into custody on Feb. 22 and charged with two counts of felony burglary and faces a third charge for filing false or forged information after investigators were tipped off and reached out to the property’s true owners.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement on Friday the 34-year-old was found guilty in late September for “filing a false or forged document to steal ownership of an Oxnard home.”
No sentencing information has been announced from the local district attorney’s office. Ventura County records reviewed by PEOPLE show Holloway is due back in court on Oct. 28.
In its statement Friday, the district attorney’s office said Holloway was accused of filing “a false, notarized grant deed with the Ventura County Recorder’s Office to establish himself as the owner of a $4.8 million residence in Oxnard Shores.” However, investigators were tipped off about the suspicious documents and contacted the property’s owners, who local officials say were an LLC.
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Investigators became suspicious because the “fraudulent real estate documents submitted by Holloway contained irregularities, including no signature from an authorized grantor,” according to the district attorney’s office. Officials said Holloway also tried returning to the property on “multiple occasions” in an effort to gain access to the home.
“On at least two occasions, he contacted locksmiths and attempted to have the locks changed, providing them with the same documents to support his claim that he was the homeowner,” the district attorney’s office said.
Holloway was first arrested in late February, according to Ventura County Jail records. His arrest came after the district attorney’s office said investigators reached out to the property owners and confirmed that they had not authorized Holloway to transfer or claim ownership of the property.”
“This case was about trying to take a $4.8 million home with a few pieces of paper,” Ventura County Deputy District Attorney Meighann Mahoney said in a statement last week. “The defendant claimed an ownership interest he did not have and then used it in a deed. This conviction recognizes the importance of protecting the integrity of our public records and holding people accountable when they knowingly use false information to try to obtain someone else’s property.”
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