Nine Busted In Alleged Central Ohio House Flipping Scam

In Fairfield County, Ohio, The Columbus Dispatch reports:

• Nine people have been charged in connection with a multimillion-dollar mortgage-flipping and theft-ring scheme that authorities say operated out of Fairfield County but stretched far beyond central Ohio. Huey W. Granderson, 32, of Millersport, called the ringleader by Fairfield County Sheriff Dave Phalen, faces the most serious charges. They include racketeering; 11 counts of money laundering; and charges of theft, securing writings by deception and tax evasion. He and the eight others are accused of systematically falsifying tax records and income statements since early 2006. Authorities say the group submitted the records to central Ohio businesses and mortgage companies to get loans for expensive property, vehicles and construction equipment. The value of the fraud is said to approach $3 million.

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• "This was a well-organized criminal enterprise," Phalen said. Most, if not all, of the homes are in foreclosure, he said. [...] Mary Jo Hudson, director of the Ohio Department of Insurance, said her department took the lead in the case because some insurance companies lost money. That, in turn, affects everyone's rates, she said. "It is all interconnected," Hudson said. "In this case, we began pulling on a thread and unraveled an entire sweater."

For more, see Nine charged in mortgage fraud, theft scheme ($3 million in homes, vehicles).