Scammers in Poway squatting plot arrested in Vista

A pair of con artists who targeted a Poway homeowner were arrested in Vista yesterday afternoon (November 6), according to the San Diego County Sheriff's Department.

Per detective Dan Meyers, in 2011 Arthur Lewis and Christine Moe contacted the owners of a home for sale on the 14400 block of Cypress Point in Poway. Moe and Lewis negotiated the purchase of the home, including all of the furniture and other property inside valued at approximately $75,000, and agreed to move in and pay rent until the sale closed.

The pair moved into the house in May 2011. However, the couple failed to pay any rent and did not move forward with the purchase, and the property went into foreclosure due to the owner's inability to pay the mortgage in June 2012.

Refusing to give up possession of the house, Lewis and Moe continued living there until they were forcibly evicted by deputies in December 2012, at which point the couple took the furnishings, which had not been paid for.

Deputies caught up with Lewis and Moe on November 6, executing a search warrant on a home the couple was renting in Vista. Most of the Poway victim's furnishings were recovered and returned. The suspects were arrested and booked on charges of grand theft.