El Pasoan sentenced for property title fraud scheme admitted to stealing from military service members

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Today El Paso District Attorney James Montoya announced the sentencing of a man who fraudulently transferred property titles and deeds into his own name.

Montoya announced that Victor Bernard Dennis, Jr., 47, pleaded guilty to four cases with multiple counts of Tampering with a Governmental Record with the Intent to Harm/Defraud, Forgery, and Theft of Property>=$200,000. He pleaded "true" to a Motion to Revoke his probation on a 2019 felony case. He received prison sentences for four counts. They are to be served concurrently, with a 21-year prison sentence for the Theft of Property conviction being the longest.

"Dennis admitted to fraudulently transferring El Paso-based properties that belonged to people who were either living out-of-town or out-of-state, or were deceased," a spokesperson for the District Attorney's Office explained. "Dennis would transfer the properties into his name or his companies’ ownership by forging warranty deeds, fraudulently notarizing them, and filing them with the County Clerk’s Office. Dennis admitted to placing signage on the properties indicating they were for sale, accepting money from people who were led to believe they were buying the property, and drafting fraudulent deeds to those victims."

Prosecutors say Dennis' scheme goes back to 2014. He stole over half a million dollars from 70 residents, including U.S. military service members.

"He would lead service members on the verge of deployment or reassignment into believing that he would sell their El Paso homes," the DA's Office said. "Instead, he pocketed the down payments and subsequent mortgage payments made by the buyers and never transferred the deeds out of the service members’ names. The homes were eventually foreclosed upon, forcing the new residents into eviction and ruining the service members’ credit."

The District Attorney’s Office White Collar Unit is still looking for victims. Property owners are urged to check their records to ensure their documentation is correct. Anyone who has done business with Dennis can call the White Collar Unit at (915) 273-3542. The DA's Office spokesperson says Dennis used the following companies to aid in his crimes:

• KV Homes, LLC.
• Omega Land Trust
• Southwest Land Trust
• Pinnacle Land Trust
• Aztec Land Trust
• Sandstone Land Trust
• Legion Investments