Sitting on an electric mobility device, Hector Benavente, 71, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to three grand-theft charges stemming from a housing program he ran for more than a year in 2018-19.
Dozens of San Diego families accuse him of taking thousands of dollars from them and then vanishing with the money.
“I think it’s a joke,” said Ausberto Cisneros about the plea.
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Cisneros was in the courtroom along with other people who say this day was a long time coming.
“He knows that there is evidence from the people he lied to,” Cisneros told NBC 7.
Cisneros said he gave Benavente $3,500 for what he thought was an affordable-housing program that was advertised through flyers like the one shown below. Participants were also incentivized to invite friends and family into the program and encouraged to give a $500 or a $5,500 deposit to get on the list for mobile homes that would soon be available. These homes were advertised as low-cost with no-interest financing.
Cisneros and the others say they were given a list of the mobile homes that would be available. However, they recalled, Benavente told them to not knock on the doors of the homes since the people living in them were not happy about being forced out due to foreclosures.
NBC 7 Responds
In late 2018, Cisneros said, many families grew impatient, suspicious they were being defrauded. Then, they say, Benavente was suddenly gone.
Gerardo, who asked NBC 7 to withhold his last name, was at court on Thursday with his aunt and cousin.
“He started not answering people, saying that he was going to pay them back or he started getting a little sketchy,” Gerardo said.
After Benavente's arraignment, NBC 7 Responds attempted to speak to him outside the courthouse, but je didn’t answer any questions regarding the charges he’s facing.
More than four years ago, in September 2019, NBC 7 Responds spoke with Benavete over the phone. He did not allow us to record our conversation and declined an interview, but we pushed for an explanation.
The man pocketed the money and never gave us anything.
Armida Tapia
Benavete sent an email later that month in which he told NBC 7 that the program didn’t work out due to sudden health issues. He also assured us that he would return the money to the families no later than December of that year. At the time, he calculated the money he intended to return to San Diego families was about $50,000. The people NBC 7 spoke with estimated it to be closer to $100,000.
“The man pocketed the money and never gave us anything,” said Armida Tapia, adding that she had given him $5,500 that he promised he would pay back.
“I saw people who cried because they had borrowed money to pay for a deposit, for the dream to have a home,” Tapia added.
On top of that, the arrest warrant for Benavente indicates that he admitted to a detective that he had never used the money for the purchase of any mobile homes. Also: the warrant references reporting by NBC 7 and Telemundo 20 Responds as part of the case against Benavente.
There is damage to the community, serious damage
Ausberto Cisneros
“There is damage to the community, serious damage,” said Cisneros, referring to the amount of money, time and work so many families lost because of the trust they placed in the housing program and in Benavente.
Benavente is scheduled to return to court in February. The district attorney’s office told NBC 7 Responds that if new information and additional victims come to light, charges against the defendant can be amended.
