Illinois Man Posed As Gov't Official While Using Forged Deeds To Steal, Then Sell, Real Estate Out From Under True Owners, Say Chicago Feds

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Chicago, Illinois):

• A Chicago man who allegedly posed as a federal government official in a scheme to sell properties he did not own out from underneath the real owners was arrested on federal charges, law enforcement officials announced [...]. The defendant, John Hemphill, was charged with mail fraud and falsely posing as a federal official in a criminal complaint that was filed [...] following his arrest.

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• According to the complaint affidavit, since approximately 2002, Hemphill has engaged in a scheme to defraud property owners and prospective purchasers of property by creating and recording fictitious deeds with county recorder of deeds offices in various counties in Illinois, posing as the property owner selling the property in question. Hemphill typically filed a fictitious deed with the county recorder that purported to convey title to a parcel of property from its lawful holder to one of Hemphill’s businesses, and then filed a second fictitious deed purporting to convey title to the same property from his business entity (the new purported owner) to a third party.

• Hemphill also falsely represented to prospective purchasers of properties that he and his business entities(1) held title to these properties in their capacity as a "federal receiver" or had other lawful authority to convey the properties to third parties. Under these allegedly false pretenses, Hemphill purported to sell these properties to third parties, usually for cash payments.

For the press release, see Chicago Man Accused Of Posing As Federal Official In Alleged Scheme To Obtain And Sell Properties He Did Not Own.

(1) Accoding to the press release, the business entities that he used in this manner are the "United States Mortgage Release Corp." (USMRC) and the "United States Receivers Caretakers Assn." (USRCA). According to state records, Hemphill is the president of both companies, the press release, states. DeedContraTheft