Vacant Land Affinity Fraud Fleeces 1,000+ Miami-Area Haitians Out Of $10.6M, Say Feds; Bogus Deeds, Closing Docs Used To Make Phony Sales Look Legit

In Miami, Florida, the South Florida Business Journal reports on a recent federal indictment in an alleged affinity fraud targeting members of the local Haitian community:

• Three South Floridians have been indicted in a land scheme that authorities say defrauded more than 1,000 mostly Haitian victims out of some $10.6 million. Daniel Stephen, 42, of Miami Shores; Clotilde Jean, 43, of Miramar; and Patricia DePons, 53, of Miami Shores, were charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud and mail fraud for their participation in a scheme to sell vacant land, according to a news release from the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida. The case involved the sale of property in North Florida and Georgia by First Loan Solution, a company owned and operated by Stephen and his partner, Jean.

• According to the indictment, Stephen, Jean and other First Loan Solution employees sold land to members of the Haitian community in Miami-Dade County using advertisements on Haitian radio, leaflets in the community, bus trips to North Florida and direct solicitations of the buyers. In some cases, neither Stephen nor First Solution owned the land that was being sold. In other cases, buyers were told they were purchasing individual parcels of land on which they could build when, in fact, they were purchasing land with other buyers through a limited liability company, and could not build individually on the property, according to the news release.

• DePons is alleged to have conducted the closings on the sales, and collected money from the buyers. At the closings, DePons allegedly issued fraudulent warranty deeds and closing [statements]. The buyers never received title to the land nor, in most cases, refunds.

Source: South Floridians charged in land scam.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Three Charged In Multi-Million Dollar Vacant Land Fraud Scheme.