More On Alleged $50M Minnesota Straw Buyer Mortgage Fraud; Claims At Least Two More Equity Skimming Victims

The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports:

• "Carrie and Corey Karau thought they were buying their dream house 20 months ago when they and their five children moved to a bucolic neighborhood in New Market, Minn. But $30,000 in payments later, the couple discovered the house they thought they owned under a "contract for deed" from home builder Parish Marketing and Development Corp. of Eagan had been sold to someone else and was in foreclosure. The house they planned to live in for the rest of their lives was about to be repossessed. "How do you explain something like this to your kids?" asked Carrie Karau. "That's the hardest part." The Karaus are among dozens of people in the Twin Cities' southern suburbs caught in what state regulators believe is the largest case of mortgage fraud in Minnesota history."

• "The government said the alleged mortgage fraud involves nearly 200 properties, $100 million in mortgage proceeds and as much as $50 million in losses. Some straw buyers bought more than 50 properties, according to court records."

Reportedly, sources close to the investigation say that, in addition to Parish Marketing, more than a dozen real estate professionals who allegedly inflated property values and falsified documents are part of the investigation.

For more, see Mortgage fraud infiltrates suburbs (Hundreds of fraudulent transactions -- and shattered lives -- have been exposed) (Story also available here on MSNBC.com).

Go here for other posts on this ongoing investigation.

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