Cops: Forged Docs Used To Steal Home In Foreclosure, "Satisfy" Unpaid Loan, Pocket $167K+ From Subsequent Refi, Swipe Add'l $6K In Rent To Own Scam

In Newington, Connecticut, The New Britain Herald reports:

• A Glastonbury real estate investor is accused of forging documents to take out more than $167,000 in mortgages on a Newington property in foreclosure, police said. Thomas “Steve” Moynihan, 48, [...], was charged by warrant Friday with larceny and forgery after a several-month investigation revealed he allegedly forged documents, including a quit claim deed signing a Newington home over to his company, court papers said.

• The scheme began to unravel in September 2008, when a Newington resident was notified that his foreclosure hadn’t gone through because he had filed for bankruptcy. The man hadn’t filed for bankruptcy and noticed that people were living in the Hartford Avenue home he had left while the foreclosure proceedings were taking place, a warrant for Moynihan’s arrest said.

• The man discovered that Moynihan had filed a quit claim deed with his signature at Town Hall, essentially giving the [...] property to Moynihan free of charge, the warrant said. The man brought the document to Newington police, who discovered a chain of forged papers that allowed Moynihan to take out two mortgages totaling $167,000 on the [...] property.

• Police also learned that Moynihan had told a Hartford man he could live in the home with an option to buy the property if he used his own money to make repairs. That man allegedly gave Moynihan a $6,000 deposit toward the purchase of the home and used his own money to make thousands of dollars in repairs, the warrant said.

• Moynihan was charged with first-degree larceny, third-degree larceny, two counts of second-degree forgery, identity theft and criminal impersonation. He was released after posting $50,000 bond and is scheduled to be arraigned on the charges July 6.

Source: Man charged with forging real estate documents.

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