This is taking way too long, ridiculous that the DA's office isn't moving on this with so many people adversely impacted and financially damaged by these people. Yet still they reside in their high end home in Villa Park and send the kids to private schools on our dime. I've been a little too busy just trying to make an "honest buck" to keep a roof over the head for my family.
1) Things I plan on doing over the next two weeks:
Taking a day off to head down to the DA's office to find out what the hell they are doing, if anything.
2) Serving John and Marrissa with the other two court orders for the cases they owe me money for.
Yes, they are still living in Villa Park as far as I can tell. If you need to serve them with any type of legal doc's I may be able to put you in touch with a process server that can locate them and serve the papers for you.
I would encourage anyone that has been taken by these people to contact the DA's office and ask what they are doing about it. I get really tired of reading about these scam artist that are being prosecuted, as long as they have committed their crimes in Newport or high end areas of Irvine but there isn't anyone in the DA's office that gives a damn about a bunch of middle class victims that get scammed by some jerk from Villa Park. Yep, money talks in politics.
While the only ones that have put any work into this has been the Detectives at the Orange PD, without any assistance from the DA's office as far as I know (go figure). I think we already mentioned our encounter with the Sheriffs Department when Cantu was fleeing his last residence. Not only did the Sheriff pretty much tell us to get lost and leave them alone but he also made it painfully clear that we had no business investing what we couldn't lose, and had no right to try and collect from this poor guy and his wife. The Deputy made it very clear that he would be able to find them if he ever needed to, he just failed to mention that they didn't plan on doing anything about this guy and his wife. But that was pretty obvious from his comments about our losing money in this investment scam, and how he thought we should just let it go and forget about it. Not surprising given the illustrious history of the Sheriffs Department.
4/19/10
Yet another happy camper with a new twist!
I "sold" a boat to John Cantu and his family 3 years ago. When I was trying to sell it, He told me that he had bad credit and couldn't finance for a year. He gave me a year’s payment up front and paid the insurance on it. He had a lawyer draft up a legal contract stating he would buy it from me in a year for my asking price, and if not, pay me a penalty...(a years worth of payments, yet still purchase the boat). When the year was up, he continued to make payments, guaranteeing me that he would still buy.. $500 cash every month (probably stolen money, sorry). This went on for almost 2 years. He didn't always pay on time since the "real estate market was tough", but he made good for the most part. Now he's disappeared, 6 months behind on payments, turns out the boat has been sitting on the dealership's lot for over a year. He had an accident with it and approved almost $5000 in work. I spoke with his Ex-friend who said this is true and he wasn't at fault. So undoubtedly he committed insurance fraud! He had the boat repaired, but left it there, never to pick it up! Yet probably filed a claim against the other party and got paid! Now I have to spend almost $5000 to get it off the lot, plus I'm still making the monthly payments on it and its depreciated far, far beyond what I can sell it for! I'm screwed, and plan on going to the police on my next day off. He kept telling me it was at the dealership having warranty work done on it. I spoke with his wife a week before they were evicted and he "was in the hospital", and she lied straight to my face. She spoke nothing about an accident, and they were going to pick it up and store it at her brother-in-laws place in Corona/Riverside because you couldn't put boats/trailers in your driveway in Villa Park (just like his story). Marissa is totally involved in all these schemes... why would she lie about an accident that wasn't even their fault if she wasn't in on all the scams? I hope my contract that we both signed helps put them in jail and possibly get our money back (wishful thinking). I can't believe I fell for their Crap. Please share their where-abouts if anybody knows. Thanks for listening.
Thank you,
Jeremy
Thank you,
Jeremy
4/10/10
Oh Yeah, Ren Web
For those of you that believe using Ren Web was inappropriate. What the heck is it? This renweb or whatever was not used to send e-mails to the folks at St. Johns, your e-mail system is safe, there was no hacking involved.
For those of you at St. Johns that commented on the e-mail thank you. You get it. It is not about religion, using the churches e-mail or anything else. This was simply an attempt to make people aware. Everything that has happened to date is a matter of public record, John and Marissa have a multitude of crime reports filed against them. The police have raided their residence collecting additional evidence and John and Marissa continue to solicit money from people for these alleged investments. In these challenging times please do not give more money to these people under false pretenses, it will be the last you see of it.
For those of you at St. Johns that commented on the e-mail thank you. You get it. It is not about religion, using the churches e-mail or anything else. This was simply an attempt to make people aware. Everything that has happened to date is a matter of public record, John and Marissa have a multitude of crime reports filed against them. The police have raided their residence collecting additional evidence and John and Marissa continue to solicit money from people for these alleged investments. In these challenging times please do not give more money to these people under false pretenses, it will be the last you see of it.
A little clarity here:
In response to some of the comments related to the Blog post I offer the following:
Religion: This isn’t about religion, John and Marissa just use that as a ruse to build trust among their victims, the same way they used Little League and Junior Basketball. The same way John was involved with the VPHS Basketball Boosters, until everything fell apart. Their attendance at church or children’s sporting events is simply a means of meeting more potential victims, passing themselves off as solid citizens in the community, building trust. They both use their claim to be religious as a means to an end. As for the person quoting the Bible verse I offer the following 3 commandments that John and Marissa have broken. Personally there is no place in this dispute that has any bearing on religion other than what I noted about religion being an end to a means.
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
John and Marisa’s Children:
John and Marissa brought the children into this themselves. John has taken his kids with him to pick up investment funds and I have never seen Marissa without one of the children with her. When you set off to scam hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims you place yourself at a certain amount of risk (read the paper for Pete’s sake there is all kinds of violence out there). I want to make it perfectly clear that this matter should be resolved by the proper authorities (Police and Courts) and I do not condone violence in any way. Still I can’t help but think that sooner or latter they are going to scam the wrong kind of person and something bad will happen, and they know it. They are putting their children at risk each and everyday and I believe that it is deplorable. There are many more issues to child welfare than physical abuse, and John and Marissa have put such an emotional and mental strain on their children it is unconscionable, not to mention the risk of physical harm.
Investment Risk:
There have been a couple of comments on here regarding the fact that people that have been scammed should just shut up and let it go. It’s our own fault for investing, we should have known the risk, and investments lose money everyday, so on and so on….
The only answer I have to that one is: Please read the entire blog.
The only reason the term “investment “ is used in the blog is because that is what John and Marissa tout it as. For those of us that have lost money it is a scam plain and simple. If I had entered into an investment and lost money I wouldn’t be here now. Believe me I know investments can lose money and they carry a certain degree of risk. That is not the case here.
John has yet to prove that he ever invested any money that I gave him as promised. This is significantly different from losing money on an investment, when he never invested but just pocketed the money. In the real world we call that theft not investing. Although I do have an e0mail confirmation sent from John saying that one the investments he put my money into had paid out, of course that is all I have, he never gave me the money. Again, I’m sorry that sounds like theft to me, we just need to hear what the court says. John and Marissa have never provided documents related to any investment. John sells his “investments” as real estate related; however, he had his license suspended.
Again, it is my contention that John and Marissa never invested any of the money they received from me and probably many others also. And is this in no way an investment, it is just a simple ponzi scheme, actually worse than that because nobody I know has received any return. It’s not an investment, the police don’t raid your house because you’re a poor investor, they raid it because there is more than enough reason to believe you have committed a crime. There is a big difference between losing investment money and being defrauded.
Religion: This isn’t about religion, John and Marissa just use that as a ruse to build trust among their victims, the same way they used Little League and Junior Basketball. The same way John was involved with the VPHS Basketball Boosters, until everything fell apart. Their attendance at church or children’s sporting events is simply a means of meeting more potential victims, passing themselves off as solid citizens in the community, building trust. They both use their claim to be religious as a means to an end. As for the person quoting the Bible verse I offer the following 3 commandments that John and Marissa have broken. Personally there is no place in this dispute that has any bearing on religion other than what I noted about religion being an end to a means.
You shall not steal
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”
John and Marisa’s Children:
John and Marissa brought the children into this themselves. John has taken his kids with him to pick up investment funds and I have never seen Marissa without one of the children with her. When you set off to scam hundreds of thousands of dollars from unsuspecting victims you place yourself at a certain amount of risk (read the paper for Pete’s sake there is all kinds of violence out there). I want to make it perfectly clear that this matter should be resolved by the proper authorities (Police and Courts) and I do not condone violence in any way. Still I can’t help but think that sooner or latter they are going to scam the wrong kind of person and something bad will happen, and they know it. They are putting their children at risk each and everyday and I believe that it is deplorable. There are many more issues to child welfare than physical abuse, and John and Marissa have put such an emotional and mental strain on their children it is unconscionable, not to mention the risk of physical harm.
Investment Risk:
There have been a couple of comments on here regarding the fact that people that have been scammed should just shut up and let it go. It’s our own fault for investing, we should have known the risk, and investments lose money everyday, so on and so on….
The only answer I have to that one is: Please read the entire blog.
The only reason the term “investment “ is used in the blog is because that is what John and Marissa tout it as. For those of us that have lost money it is a scam plain and simple. If I had entered into an investment and lost money I wouldn’t be here now. Believe me I know investments can lose money and they carry a certain degree of risk. That is not the case here.
John has yet to prove that he ever invested any money that I gave him as promised. This is significantly different from losing money on an investment, when he never invested but just pocketed the money. In the real world we call that theft not investing. Although I do have an e0mail confirmation sent from John saying that one the investments he put my money into had paid out, of course that is all I have, he never gave me the money. Again, I’m sorry that sounds like theft to me, we just need to hear what the court says. John and Marissa have never provided documents related to any investment. John sells his “investments” as real estate related; however, he had his license suspended.
Again, it is my contention that John and Marissa never invested any of the money they received from me and probably many others also. And is this in no way an investment, it is just a simple ponzi scheme, actually worse than that because nobody I know has received any return. It’s not an investment, the police don’t raid your house because you’re a poor investor, they raid it because there is more than enough reason to believe you have committed a crime. There is a big difference between losing investment money and being defrauded.
3/14/10
Thank you to those that have worked with John in the past
A special thank you to those that have been in business with John in the past. You have provided some great information into previous legal actions filed against John in his prior business dealings. It makes me sick to know that he and Marissa have gotten away with this for so long, first stealing through his business dealings and then moving on to families, especially those that he knew he would be hurting so severely.
So a sincere thanks to those that have given us the additional information, oit will be tough for the DA to not prosecute this case in a timely manner given all the information we have now on the Cantu's dealings.
This is not just going to go away, we won't stop until John and his wife get the jail time they deserve. And the more people or family members of his that we can tie to the case the better. This is just turning into a little den of liars that all appear to be involved.
We will do our Best to keep informing those that John and Marissa are more than likely to attempt to scam. You know his friends, parents at his children's schools, little league parents and the like. E-mails will be sent to the parents and administration of St. Johns where John and Marissa send their children in an effort to find more victims, we know they are there.
So a sincere thanks to those that have given us the additional information, oit will be tough for the DA to not prosecute this case in a timely manner given all the information we have now on the Cantu's dealings.
This is not just going to go away, we won't stop until John and his wife get the jail time they deserve. And the more people or family members of his that we can tie to the case the better. This is just turning into a little den of liars that all appear to be involved.
We will do our Best to keep informing those that John and Marissa are more than likely to attempt to scam. You know his friends, parents at his children's schools, little league parents and the like. E-mails will be sent to the parents and administration of St. Johns where John and Marissa send their children in an effort to find more victims, we know they are there.
Where are the Cantu's?
We have not been able to locate John, Marisa, Al or his wife yet. Any help would be appreciated. We do know that Marissa is now driving a new car (glad I could help you pay for it). We know Marissa doesn't have a job so where did she get the money for the car? Oh, she must have gotten it from her husband, you know the one she said she didn't know was stealing money. Yes, that one. Marissa has been spending the stolen money from the beginning even though she claims she didn't know about the fraud (at least she acknowledges that John did commit fraud).
What has she been living on for the past20 years if it wasn't money John was stealing?
What has she been living on for the past20 years if it wasn't money John was stealing?
The IRS relation?
So now it turns out that the person John and Marisa used to legitimize his little investment scam from an Internal Revenue Sertice perspective turns out to be his sister in law? I really think this is something else that should be looked into. John mentioned on more than one occasian that that he had a family member that worked for the IRS that assisted him in making sure everything was on the up and up.
Well unless he hasn't been following the papers lately, it turns out that many of the wives of these scam artist are being prosecuted under tax evasion and deliberatily filing false tax returns. Hey, they are going to prison too.
Well unless he hasn't been following the papers lately, it turns out that many of the wives of these scam artist are being prosecuted under tax evasion and deliberatily filing false tax returns. Hey, they are going to prison too.
Where did they move? and how many are their involved?
Just how many Cantus are involved in this Scam?
A few weeks ago, my wife and I drove by the Cantu’s house and noticed that they were moving. We asked to speak with John and he wasn’t home so his wife and his brother spoke with us. They told us that they had “just found out” that John was possibly involved in possibly scamming people. We knew that Marissa was lying because she was involved in some of our investment deals and we have subsequently heard that she was directly involved in selling the fake investments to various other people. After speaking with these people, we found out that Al (John’s brother) flat out lied to us too that day. He has told other people in the past the he was actually scammed by his own brother for over $100,000.00, which was undoubtedly a lie. We also spoke with other people who indicated that Al has been aware of this for several years. In fact, when one of these victims lost his money in 2006, Al then told him that John had scammed him for over $100,000.00.
We’ve established now that Al is a liar. Now, we’re beginning to question how involved was he in all of these scams all along? We’re still trying to find out where the money is because John owns nothing and has nothing in his name. The question is does his brother have everyone’s money? Or, does Marissa’s family have it? The money has to be somewhere. We also found out that Al’s wife works for the IRS. We can’t help but wonder if she is involved as well in helping hide all of their ill begotten gains.
If anyone has any information regarding Al and his wife as well as additional confirmation of Marissa’s intricate involvement, please contact Dave Pasino and provide him with this information. If anyone has a chance in recouping our money, we need to find out where the money is.
We are also not sure where the Cantu’s have moved this time but are pretty sure they’re living with his brother, Al. If anyone can provide the address, please put this on the blog. There are several more civil lawsuits in the works and their address is needed
A few weeks ago, my wife and I drove by the Cantu’s house and noticed that they were moving. We asked to speak with John and he wasn’t home so his wife and his brother spoke with us. They told us that they had “just found out” that John was possibly involved in possibly scamming people. We knew that Marissa was lying because she was involved in some of our investment deals and we have subsequently heard that she was directly involved in selling the fake investments to various other people. After speaking with these people, we found out that Al (John’s brother) flat out lied to us too that day. He has told other people in the past the he was actually scammed by his own brother for over $100,000.00, which was undoubtedly a lie. We also spoke with other people who indicated that Al has been aware of this for several years. In fact, when one of these victims lost his money in 2006, Al then told him that John had scammed him for over $100,000.00.
We’ve established now that Al is a liar. Now, we’re beginning to question how involved was he in all of these scams all along? We’re still trying to find out where the money is because John owns nothing and has nothing in his name. The question is does his brother have everyone’s money? Or, does Marissa’s family have it? The money has to be somewhere. We also found out that Al’s wife works for the IRS. We can’t help but wonder if she is involved as well in helping hide all of their ill begotten gains.
If anyone has any information regarding Al and his wife as well as additional confirmation of Marissa’s intricate involvement, please contact Dave Pasino and provide him with this information. If anyone has a chance in recouping our money, we need to find out where the money is.
We are also not sure where the Cantu’s have moved this time but are pretty sure they’re living with his brother, Al. If anyone can provide the address, please put this on the blog. There are several more civil lawsuits in the works and their address is needed
2/14/10
Orange Police Department and Foothill Sentry Thanks
I think we owe a big thank you to the Orange Police Department for following up on the accusations related to John and Marisa Cantu so quickly. It is my understanding that although John and Marissa have been perpetrating these con's for several years that the Detectives at Orange Police Department only became aware of the case in August 2009.
An article in the Foothills Sentry (Marjan Dunn) dated February 9th noted the Police raid on Cantu's home related to the Fraud Investigation. It's Ms. Dunn's articles that helped really start bringing the victims together and we appreciate her revisiting the situation. The point here, now, is to make as many as aware as possible so that John and Marisa are not able to continue conning people out of their hard earned money.
Where do we go from here?
I hope that as many victims as possible contact the District Attorney's Office to ask them what is being done on the prosecution side. The number of families that have been taken by these people and the money involved is ridiculous. Please take the time to drop a quick letter, make a phone call or actually stop by the DA's office to let them know your concerns.
It's time that some justice is given to these people. Both of them. I have detailed Marisa involvement on this blog as have several others. The same them has been repeated to those we have spoken with, they are in this together. She thinks she can claim innocence now, keep all the money they have stolen and just walk away. What a joke. She knows what was done, how it has affected the lives of others and is only concerned with her own skin. This woman is a real piece of work, her and her husband are cut from the same cloth.
An article in the Foothills Sentry (Marjan Dunn) dated February 9th noted the Police raid on Cantu's home related to the Fraud Investigation. It's Ms. Dunn's articles that helped really start bringing the victims together and we appreciate her revisiting the situation. The point here, now, is to make as many as aware as possible so that John and Marisa are not able to continue conning people out of their hard earned money.
Where do we go from here?
I hope that as many victims as possible contact the District Attorney's Office to ask them what is being done on the prosecution side. The number of families that have been taken by these people and the money involved is ridiculous. Please take the time to drop a quick letter, make a phone call or actually stop by the DA's office to let them know your concerns.
It's time that some justice is given to these people. Both of them. I have detailed Marisa involvement on this blog as have several others. The same them has been repeated to those we have spoken with, they are in this together. She thinks she can claim innocence now, keep all the money they have stolen and just walk away. What a joke. She knows what was done, how it has affected the lives of others and is only concerned with her own skin. This woman is a real piece of work, her and her husband are cut from the same cloth.
Header - Cantus on the Run again
Just by blind luck, we happened to drive by the Cantu house yesterday and noticed a moving van in front of their house. We asked if we could speak to Marisa because apparently, John is in the hospital. John Cantu told us from the very beginning that if anything happened to him, we needed to speak with Marissa because she knows everything about the investments and where our money is.
John's brother was with Marisa and told us that they JUST found out about John scamming people and that they had NO previous knowledge. This was odd because Marissa was always there when we gave John our investment money. He told us we needed to speak with the police and let them take care of things. An Orange County Sheriff appeared on the scene and told us that they were being evicted. We voiced our concerns that the Cantus might simply disappear because by our estimates, they have fleeced people out of almost $2 Million dollars. The officer assured us that if they indeed skip town that they would be found and brought to justice. We however are not so sure. If anyone has any information as to the current whereabouts of the Cantus, please post on this website so that people who want to serve them with civil paperwork can locate them.
I didn't know he was ripping people off!
1) Let's be real here, Marisa wants everyone to believe that she had no knowlwdge of her husbands actions. Marisa knew at least as far back as September 2009, that is when I couldn't get in touch with John and asked he about my money. She specifically told me that THEIR investments were coming in slower than expected.
2) John had no problem letting me and several others know that Marisa was aware of the deals and that we should contact her if we couldn't get in touch with him. She would arrange for settlement and let us know who his partners were.
3) Some of the suits that the Cantu's have lost go back several years and involve people that were considered good friends, the Cantu's even went so far as to go on joint vacations with those they would subsequently con.
4) Many thanks to those of you that are sharing additional information. I need to do as much reference checking as possible so that when we actually approach the DA's office about prosecuting this case we have as much readily available, verifiable information about his past cons as possible.
John's brother was with Marisa and told us that they JUST found out about John scamming people and that they had NO previous knowledge. This was odd because Marissa was always there when we gave John our investment money. He told us we needed to speak with the police and let them take care of things. An Orange County Sheriff appeared on the scene and told us that they were being evicted. We voiced our concerns that the Cantus might simply disappear because by our estimates, they have fleeced people out of almost $2 Million dollars. The officer assured us that if they indeed skip town that they would be found and brought to justice. We however are not so sure. If anyone has any information as to the current whereabouts of the Cantus, please post on this website so that people who want to serve them with civil paperwork can locate them.
I didn't know he was ripping people off!
1) Let's be real here, Marisa wants everyone to believe that she had no knowlwdge of her husbands actions. Marisa knew at least as far back as September 2009, that is when I couldn't get in touch with John and asked he about my money. She specifically told me that THEIR investments were coming in slower than expected.
2) John had no problem letting me and several others know that Marisa was aware of the deals and that we should contact her if we couldn't get in touch with him. She would arrange for settlement and let us know who his partners were.
3) Some of the suits that the Cantu's have lost go back several years and involve people that were considered good friends, the Cantu's even went so far as to go on joint vacations with those they would subsequently con.
4) Many thanks to those of you that are sharing additional information. I need to do as much reference checking as possible so that when we actually approach the DA's office about prosecuting this case we have as much readily available, verifiable information about his past cons as possible.
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