Avocado Ponzi Scheme
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – A Perris woman accused of perpetrating a Ponzi scheme built around an avocado business must stand trial on multiple felony charges, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Consuelo Carrasco Ramirez, 54, was arrested last year following a two- month Riverside County Sheriff’s Department investigation.
At the end of a preliminary hearing Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Gary Polk found there was sufficient evidence to bound Ramirez, also known as “Consuelo Zeferina,” over for trial on eight counts of obtaining money by false pretenses, four counts of passing bogus checks and a sentence-enhancing white collar crime allegation.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Sept. 1 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
Ramirez is being held at the Smith Correctional Facility in lieu of $379,750 — the sum she’s accused of stealing.
According to sheriff’s investigators and court documents, from September 2023 to January 2025, the defendant allegedly defrauded six people, identified only by their initials — “A.L.,” “F.L.,” “M.R.,” “O.S.,” “P.U.” and “V.A.”
Sheriff’s Sgt. Jeff Fisher said Ramirez claimed to be operating a profitable “wholesale avocado business” and allegedly snared the victims by holding out the promise of high returns if they invested in it.
Instead of using their money for a business venture, however, she pocketed most of it, using only the amounts necessary to keep initial investors happy while others were drawn in — a classic Ponzi scheme — Fisher alleged.
“Ramirez often targeted members of the Hispanic community and, in some cases, threatened to have them deported,” the sergeant said.
One of the victims ultimately reported the alleged scam to authorities, culminating in the investigation which identified the others.
The largest amount lost in the scheme was $87,630, put up by O.S., court papers alleged.
Ramirez has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.
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