7 Charged In Alleged Cleveland-Area Straw Buyer Flipping Scam

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

• "Seven people indicted Tuesday on charges of racketeering and conspiracy of mortgage fraud are the first targets of a task force formed to crack down on predatory lending in Cuyahoga County. Among those accused in the 65-count indictment are an unemployed single mother who bought five Cleveland houses in one day and two area property managers who investigators say sold nine rundown houses at inflated prices."

Forged and falsified documents were used to secure subprime mortgage loans from Argent Mortgage Co., (the same mortgage company that provided the loans - believed to be $18 million - in the alleged home improvement scam in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area of Florida recently - see Loan scam hits dozens).

The alleged ringleaders have been identified as Joan Shinkaruk, owner of Elite Investors Corp. of Parma, and Daryle Rutherford of J. Rutherford and Associates, a Cleveland area investment property management company. Each face 49 felony counts. Also indicted were straw buyers Angela Brown, David Crosby and Marvin Hill, along with Michael Wojciechowski, a partner of Shinkaruk, and real estate broker Chad Cook. For more, see 7 indicted in Cuyahoga predatory lending crackdown.