Paul Ricky Mata, a former California financial advisor with a lengthy disciplinary history, was arrested yesterday pursuant to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with running a $14.5 million real estate fraud scheme by inducing victims to invest in his businesses and then using their money for personal expenses, according to a DOJ Press release. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the indictment this afternoon in the U.S. District Court in Riverside, Calif. Mata is named in a 17-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury on June 5. The indictment charges Mata with mail fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements in a bankruptcy proceeding, among other offenses. If convicted of all 17 counts, he would face a statutory maximum sentence of 295 years in federal prison. Mata also is charged with making false statements on bankruptcy court documents, and of fraudulently concealing from the government and his creditors personal property, including a 2008 Mini Cooper and a 2001 Jeep.
