Victim Of Chicago-Area Refinance Racket Attributes Loss Of Four Properties To Convicted Deed Scammer

In Chicago, Illinois, myFoxchicago reports:

• John Hemphill of Chicago is behind bars after a brazen attempt to swindle potential homeowners all over the South Side. Hemphill was caught on undercover cameras in a federal sting, claiming he held the deeds to homes all over the south side, and offering to sell those properties for just three or four thousand dollars apiece.

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• Prosecutors say Hemphill falsely claimed to be a federal agent. He even misspelled the word "government" on his phony I.D. badge. But that didn't keep customers, like Sabera Iqbaluddin, from dealing with him. "Because of him, I'm losing everything," she said.

• Iqbaluddin is a postal worker who saved enough money to purchase several homes and a gas station on the south side. None of those properties were bought from Hemphill. But when times got tough, she said, Hemphill offered to help her refinance, but never passed along her payments to the lender. She lost all four properties. She's now represented by attorney Tony Peraica who says about Hemphill, "He got into their life and essentially ruined them financially."

• Hemphill hasn't been charged with anything in connection with Iqbaluddin's case. He was eventually caught and convicted, after an alert employee at the Cook County Recorder of Deeds office noticed he was filing dozens of phony deeds to suggest he had taken title to properties that were not really his.

For the story, see Chicago Man Convicted in Mortgage Scheme.

For the U.S. Attorney press release announcing Hemphill's conviction in other deed scams, see Chicago Man Convicted Of Posing As Federal Official In Scheme To Obtain And Sell Area Properties He Did Not Own.