'Man With Two Names' Strikes Again

SAN DIEGO -- A ranch that was once the jewel of Tecate is vacant and on the brink of bankruptcy by the ranch’s owner.

A 10News investigation on Feb. 7, 2006, showed how Steven Pedroarena, his cousin, Don Phillips -- a Border Patrol agent -- and Robert Akins, CEO of Cymer Inc. have dual identities with birth certificates in Mexico and the U.S.

Now, a family member speaks out for the first time about how those dual identities were used against her.

“My brother just took over like a mad man,” said Leslie Pedroarena.

Leslie Pedroarena and her brother inherited the family’s expansive land holdings after their parents died in a plane crash.

The land holdings included coastal property and homes at Punta Banda, and the 1,600-acre Tecate ranch in Rancho San Valentin.

But Leslie Pedroarena said she recently learned her entire family used their Mexican identities to take her inheritance, which was a share of the ranch near Tecate.

It took a unanimous vote of the shareholders, not just Pedroarena, but also Akins, Phillips and their mothers using those Mexican identities to vote her out.

Documents filed at the courthouse in Tecate showed Phillips, Akins and Steven Pedroarena all gathered together in Mexico and signed their Mexican names to strip Leslie Pedroarena of her ownership in the family ranch.

Leslie Pedroarena said her brother threatened her to stay away from her childhood home.

"He came to my door and said, ‘I have my ways. If you cross the Mexican border, I'm going to put you away for good,’" said Leslie Pedroarena.

She has decided to speak out to protect her holdings at Punta Banda Baja Coast for her children.

"And I'll tell you, after this whole thing is over, if he gets off, there isn’t a place I can hide,” said Leslie Pedroarena.

Right now, Steven Pedroarena is trying to sell of his sister’s land and homes at Punta Banda under his Mexican name, Esteban Carlos.

Leslie Pedroarena warns anyone thinking of buying the property to not do business with her brother.

Steven Pedroarena faces charges in the U.S. for allegedly bribing a creditor in a bankruptcy case.

He is not charged with any crimes using his alleged dual identities.

Akins and Phillips have not responded to 10News' requests for comments.