California man charged with bilking $2 million from Glenview resident in investment scheme

Federal authorities have charged a California man with allegedly defrauding a Glenview resident out of $2 million last year.

Raymond Echavez Villamor, 60, of Newport Beach, California, is charged with five counts of wire fraud in an indictment returned in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois said in a release Friday. According to details of the indictment, Villamor operated a company called Rainbowork, LLC.

Over six months last year, Villamor “fraudulently solicited, obtained, and retained an investment of approximately $2 million from an individual residing in Glenview, Ill.,” the indictment states.

Villamor allegedly made false representations about the performance and value of the investment and falsely promised to repay all of it with an added return, within a specified period, “even though he knew he did not have the capability to do so,” the indictment states.

Villamor used the money for “personal expenses and vehicles,” the indictment said.

If Villamor is found guilty each count is punishable by up to 20 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Villamor pleaded not guilty to the charges during his arraignment Monday before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Young B. Kim.

The public is reminded that an indictment is not evidence of guilt, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. It said the defendant is presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of “proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”