REGION: Foreclosure scam busted, officials say : North County Times - Californian

The attorney general's office started investigating Hutchings and his companies ---- he also used the business names of Federal Land Grant Co., Land Grant Services and KBS Resources ---- after receiving a tip from a real estate agent, according to the affidavit.

Hutchings and his associates explained to homeowners facing foreclosure during seminars that if they acquired a federal land grant, it would supersede the bank's grant deed and keep them from foreclosure, county officials said.

No such land grant program is known to be legitimate, according to the affidavit.

"I can tell you the moon is made of cheese. And if I say it enough, some people will believe it," said Stephen Robinson, deputy district attorney. "There is no federal land grant program."

When officials served one of the search warrants, Martinez and Gil were presenting a seminar to more than 50 people, officials said.

Many of the victims were Latino, and Hutchings' seminars were translated into Spanish, officials said.