SAN DIEGO–A Valley Center couple were arraigned on Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Bernard Skomal on a ten-count indictment for various fraud charges they allegedly orchestrated after losing their home in the 2007 Witch Creek fire.
In October 2007, Douglas Tumlinson, 40, and his wife Deborah, 43, lost their Ramona home in the wildfire. The Tumlinsons originally joined a class-action lawsuit against San Diego Gas & Electric (“SDG&E”) to recoup losses from the fire. The indictment alleges that although the Tumlinsons did not enter a settlement with SDG&E, they obtained a loan from U.S. Claims, a funding company, by falsely claiming they had reached a settlement and promising to use the settlement funds as collateral. They were later sued by U.S. Claims for not making any payments on the loan.
The indictment also charges that the Tumlinsons took the proceeds from the U.S. Claims loan and laundered over $500,000 to purchase a new house in Valley Center. Next, the Tumlinsons allegedly made material misrepresentations on a loan application to Seaside Funding, Inc., a Carlsbad mortgage broker company, to obtain a $250,000 home equity loan on their new Valley Center home. They also failed to repay the Seaside Funding loan.
Finally, the Tumlinsons filed for bankruptcy three times, but are accused of intentionally failing to list the outstanding loan debt to U.S. Claims on their bankruptcy petitions.
The Tumlinsons are scheduled to appear before U.S. District Court Judge Janis Sammartino for a motion hearing on November 14.
