Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Straw Buyer Gets 30 Days In Scam To Steal Home Out From Under 93-Year Old, Now-Deceased Alzheimer's Victim

From the Office of the Queens District Attorney:
  • Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown [...] announced that a 32-year-old Long Island woman who acted as a “straw buyer” to steal the Jamaica, Queens, residence of a 93-year-old Queens man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease has been sentenced to thirty days in jail and five years’ probation, during which she must appear at mortgage fraud forums and educate people on the ramifications of being a “straw buyer” and why being one is a crime. This is believed to be the first prosecution and conviction of a straw buyer in a mortgage fraud scheme in Queens County.

***

  • District Attorney Brown said that, according to trial testimony, [straw buyer Rebecca] Tharpe assisted Alexandra Gilmore, an acquaintance, in stealing the Jamaica, Queens, residen[ce] of 93-year-old Artee McKoy, a retired barber with diminished mental capacity, between August and September 2005 by acting as a “straw buyer” to purchase the property. McKoy’s signature was forged on a contract of sale – between him as the seller and Tharpe as the buyer – that was then used, along with other false information, to obtain a mortgage on the property. The house was eventually sold for $395,000, of which Tharpe received the benefit of $102,000 (a “seller’s concession” and a seller’s purchase money mortgage – none of which Mr. McKoy had consented to) and Gilmore received more than $200,000 in proceeds, including a $97,000 check that had been made payable to McKoy and an additional $130,000 which she secured by setting up a real estate company and falsely claiming to have been owed the money from a previous mortgage loan on the property.(1)(2)

For the entire Queens DA press release, see “Straw Buyer” Sentenced To Jail In Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Must Give Lectures On Being a Straw Buyer At Mortgage Fraud Forums As Part Of Sentence).

See also, New York Daily News: Con artist turns teacher as punishment.

(1) According to the Queens DA, Gilmore, 37, formerly of 14 East Grove Street in Massapequa and presently of 1550 Clark Street in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree grand larceny as a hate crime earlier this year and was sentenced to two to six years in prison.

(2) Some guidance to those seeking an approach to undoing home equity ripoffs like this one can be found in a couple of 2008 Brooklyn, New York lower court rulings favorable to the scammed homeowners. See Brooklyn Court Rulings Void Deeds & Subsequent Mortgages Used To Drain Home Equity In Bogus Sale Leaseback Foreclosure Rescue Scams. For a couple of other New York cases dealing with voiding/cancelling deeds, see:

(If there is a problem accessing any of these cases, drop me a note at HomeEquityTheft@yahoo.com and I'll email them to you.)

Further, any attempt to wipe out the mortgage obtained by the scammers on the stolen home may be met with the lender's assertion that it did not knowingly participate in the scam, and had no knowledge of it, thereby entitling it to the protection of the recording statutes as a bona fide purchaser / bona fide encumbrancer. For considerations in attempting to overcome a claim/defense of bona fide purchaser by the lender by imputing constructive notice on the lender (assuming that the deed conveyance did not involve a forgery; in the case of a forgery, the deed would be considered void ab initio (ie. void from the outset) - and, accordingly, would render a subsequent mortgage granted in reliance on the forged deed void as well), see footnote 2 of an earlier post, Staten Island DA Charges NJ Man w/ Felony Grand Larceny In Alleged Sale Leaseback, Foreclosure Rescue Ripoff That Victimized 86-Year Old Homeowner.

See also, Bona Fide Purchaser Doctrine, Possession Of Property By Occupants Other Than The Vendor & The Duty To Inquire.

posted by Home Equity Theft Reporter at 4:04 AM