More On "Sovereign Citizens" Racket Using Phony Deeds, Fraudulent Liens To Stake Claims To Real Estate, Harass Enemies Of The Movement

In DeKalb County, Georgia, The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports:

• When a new family moved into the mansion on South Goddard Road in south DeKalb County, residents just assumed they were “city folks” too busy to meet neighbors. Georgia Power and the water company came out, but 87-year-old Helen Goddard never saw the residents. “We know everyone around here. But they were quiet, no knocking on the door to introduce themselves,” said Goddard, whose husband’s family has lived in the area for centuries and are the namesake for the road.

• The only time Goddard saw her next-door neighbors was when they were being led off in handcuffs. Prosecutors say the $1 million brick home next to the Goddards’ farmhouse is one of at least 19 properties that have been taken over by a sect of anti-government extremists involved in criminal behavior.(1)

• They call themselves “sovereign citizens” and believe they are immune to state and federal laws. They assert, among other things, that banks can’t own land and that any home owned by a bank – including the thousands throughout Georgia – is free for the taking. Police and prosecutors take a different view.(2)

For more, see DA: Paper terrorists stealing homes (S. DeKalb home is one of 19 Ga. properties usurped by 'sovereign citizen' group).

(1) According to the story, local investigators have tied the sovereign citizens to at least 19 property thefts in DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry, Spalding, Newton and Richmond counties, including mansions – some still under construction – and a shopping center in Buckhead valued at $13 million. Police have reportedly charged six suspects – including Goddard’s two neighbors Linda and Gregory Ross – with violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corruption Organizations Act, with warrants having been issued for another five suspects.

For a similar racket being alleged in New York, see Feds Indict Trio In Alleged $1.24 Trillion Bogus Lien Extortion Racket Targeting Government Officials, Bank Executives; and for a related civil lawsuit filed in this NY case, see County of Ulster, New York, et al. v. Ulloa, et al.

(2) In a related item, see Anti-Government "Sovereign Citizen" Movement Exploits Economic Climate, Engages In Scams And Criminal Acts:

• [Among the] troubling developments in the sovereign citizen resurgence include:
  
  · Exploiting the mortgage/foreclosure crisis. Sovereign citizen adherents are promoting a variety of scams that falsely claim to save people's homes from foreclosure. Other sovereign citizens are even brazenly seizing foreclosed homes for their own use.
  
  · Engaging in "paper terrorism." At alarming rates, sovereign citizens are placing fraudulent liens on the property of perceived enemies as a highly effective means of harassment and retaliation. Some even do it from prison cells.