Upstate NY Sale Leaseback Peddler Accused Of Using Various Aliases In Alleged Ripoff Racket Duping Strapped Homeowners Into Signing Over Home Titles

In Rochester, New York, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reports:

• Anthony Cerame is a man of many names. Most of them are unusual; he's fond of Anthony Shablacone. Some are juvenile — he has signed documents as Joseph Damifino [read damn-if-I-know] — and some don't make much sense. According to court records, he has assumed the name Alphonse Portadori because it reminded him of an outhouse.
• With all of these names, Cerame, who has lived recently in Ontario and Monroe counties and has an office in Gates, portrays himself as an expert in "distressed property" real estate. In the past year, he has been in court with three different lawsuits against him, and court records and testimony have detailed his various aliases.
• What's left unanswered — and at issue now in the final pending lawsuit — is whether he uses the aliases for fraudulent purposes or, as he contends, for purely innocent reasons. Cerame said he needs aliases for security reasons, while those who have sued him instead allege that his shifting identities were part of a scheme to cheat them out of properties.
• The two other lawsuits against Cerame were settled out of court last year. Pending still is a lawsuit by Irondequoit resident Cheryl Helfer; in that case, state Supreme Court Justice Evelyn Frazee is considering whether Cerame used fake names to set up fraudulent trusts for property ownership.

For more, see Man of many names target of civil suits.