Wednesday, June 06, 2012

Pair Face Multiple Felony Theft Charges In Alleged $76K Ripoff Targeting Wanna-Be Homebuyers With Offers To Sell Homes Recently Lost In Foreclosure

In Bryan, Texas, The Bryan-College Station Eagle reports:
  • A Bryan woman awaiting trial on multiple felony charges was arrested again Friday, accused of trying to bilk $76,050 from three couples who thought they were buying homes and later learned none were hers to sell.

  • Rose Rodriguez [...] was charged with four felony theft counts after an investigation by the Brazos County District Attorney’s Office. Her 50-year-old husband — Carlos Rodriguez — was charged with one related count of felony theft.

  • All three of the homes actually had been foreclosed upon: One had belonged to the Rodriguez couple, another to the husband’s relatives and the third to Rose Rodriguez’s mother. In all three schemes, the Rodriguez’s kept delaying in handing over keys to the homes, prompting each to investigate the situation themselves before heading to the police department, documents state.
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  • Rose Rodriguez was charged with two counts and her husband with one count of theft between $20,000 and $100,000 — a third-degree felony punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. She also is accused of two counts of theft between $1,500 and $20,000— a state-jail felony punishable by up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.