Chicago Man Guilty Of Creating Phony Land Documents To Sell Homes Out From Under Real Owners To Unwitting Buyers While Posing As Federal Official

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

• A Chicago man was convicted of federal charges for posing as a federal government official in a scheme to sell properties he did not own out from underneath the real owners. The defendant, John Hemphill, was found guilty [] of mail fraud and false impersonation of a federal official following a week-long trial in U.S. District Court, [...].

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• According to the evidence at trial, since 2008, Hemphill engaged in a scheme to defraud property owners and prospective purchasers of property by creating and recording fictitious deeds with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds, 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 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 false pretenses, Hemphill purported to sell these properties to third parties, usually for cash payments.

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• Two witnesses at trial — a La Grange police officer and a victim who bought a home Hemphill did not own — testified that when they challenged Hemphill over his fraudulent representations, he produced a bogus badge indicating that he was a federal agent.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Chicago Man Convicted of Posing As Federal Official in Scheme to Obtain and Sell Area Properties he Did Not Own.