SAN DIEGO -- The high-profile Mira Mesa realtor accused of defrauding hundreds of low-income immigrants out of millions of dollars on bad loans had earlier business licenses suspended for failing to pay taxes, according to state records.
Eric Elegado and his wife Charmagne were charged in federal court with filing false information on mortgage applications to ensure they were approved, only for the homeowners to end up in situations they could not afford.
Each home has been foreclosed, federal prosecutors said.
Elegado ran real estate companies while his wife approved the mortgage applications.
State tax records show four of Elegado's companies -- E Real Estate and Loans, E Real Marketing, E Real Mortgage and E Real Investments -- all had business licenses suspended for failing to pay taxes.
Now, those companies owe more than $5,000 in total.
Elegado and his E Real companies have also been sued several times. One of the lawsuits was filed by one of his co-defendants, Regidor Pacal.
Pacal, who also faces fraud and money laundering charges, claims in a 2009 lawsuit that he was a victim of Elegado's business practices. Pacal alleged E Real intentionally got him a mortgage through Charmagne Elegado's company, "knowing that plaintiffs would be unable to perform future terms of the loan."
Elegado and E Real were later dropped from the suit.
Fox 5 also spoke with current and former co-workers of Eric Elegado. They dispute claims by Elegado's attorney Paul Pfingst on Tuesday stating that the family are "not rich people".
The employees, who did not want to be identified, said Elegado regularly came to work in expensive cars and was "flashy". Sources told Fox 5, the family rents a house in Carmel Valley that is worth millions.
