Builder Cops Plea In Real Estate Investment Scam Allegedly Using Fraudulently Obtained Loans To Unload New Homes On Unwitting Out-Of-Town Investors

In Central Florida, the Ocala Star Banner reports:

• An Ocala home builder pleaded guilty to one count of organized scheme to defraud Monday for his role in a real estate scam in which dozens of members of Miami's Cuban community were duped into signing falsified loan documents toward purchasing new homes in Marion Oaks. As part of his plea, Jerry Hart of Big Sun Valley Homes Inc. will likely receive five years of probation and testify against Ocala developer Edward Albart, the last remaining among six defendants(1) whose case is still open - and the man whom statewide prosecutors believe to be at the center of the scheme.

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• Between April 2000 and July 2001, approximately 24 individuals were talked into buying the Ocala homes with the promise that they wouldn't have to pay any closing costs. They were told that the homes, which had not yet been built by Hart's company, would first be rented out for several months, then transferred to their ownership, after which they could rent out the property as they pleased. Several of the victims, who testified through a Spanish-speaking translator during a hearing Monday, said they thought they were making a business investment, even though they did not live in Ocala.

For more, see Ocala home builder pleads guilty to scam (Felony charges dropped in exchange for testimony against accused mastermind).

(1) Reportedly, real estate agent Maria Victoria Marrero, whose ties to Miami's Cuban community enabled her to convince scores of non-English speaking inhabitants to sign falsified contracts, entered a plea deal with prosecutors. Gregory F. Pillon and Darryl Pillon, who worked at Friendship Title Company, reportedly also entered into plea deals. Charges against a sixth defendant, Margarita A. Aranegui-Lindsey, were eventually dropped.