Philly DA Announces Issuance Of Arrest Warrants In Alleged Deed Theft Operation; Among Targeted Victims Were The Non-English Speaking & The Deceased

From the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania District Attorney's Office:

• District Attorney Lynne Abraham [Wednesday] announced that arrest warrants have been issued for fifteen people for engaging in a continuing conspiratorial and criminal enterprise to steal homes, [...] among other crimes.(1)

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• The Grand Jury investigation revealed that generally, this ring forged and recorded deeds to abandoned or otherwise uninhabited properties, transferring these properties from their true and rightful owners to codefendants, or fictitious person, and then "sold" these properties to unsuspecting victims. [...] In each case of fraud, the lawful owner was totally unaware, and never consented to the "sale" of his property. In many instances the true and lawful owners of the property were dead for a number of years. Often the conspiratorial ring targeted immigrant, non-English speaking citizens specifically because of the lack of sophistication with the laws and procedures of the transfer of property in this state.

For the entire press release, with the list of addresses of the stlen homes, see Fifteen Arrest Warrants Issued in House Stealing Cases Based on Grand Jury Presentment (More than 80 Properties Illegally Sold Victimizing Legal Homeowners and Unsuspecting Buyers).

For Philadelphia Daily News' coverage on these charges, see:

• 15 charged as house thieves ("House-stealing is a regular and cottage industry in the city," Abraham said);
• Stealing houses (Abraham says that as many as 500 fraudulent sales are being investigated);
• Hot line for house thefts (The DA's Office has set up a special hot line - 215-686-9901 - for those who are victims of "house stealing," in which scammers prey on homeowners by forging documents for empty homes, then selling them to another buyer).

For an old NBC10 television story on the deed theft problem in Philadelphia, see Stolen Homes.

Go here, Go here, Go here, go here, go here, and go here for other posts related to deed or refinancing scams by forgery, swindle, etc.

(1) Those charged are Carlos Quiles, Ivan Delgado, Troy Baylor, Richard Smith, Kenneth Lyons, Lenora Irene Jackson, Rebecca A. Robinson, Tyrone Davenport, Juanita Torres, Alberto Rodriguez, Daralease Brown, Vincent Wilder, David Lespier, Maria Roman, Zoraida Cuevas and Marino Rodriguez. They face numerous counts of:

1. Corrupt Organizations, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §911 ( F-1);
2. Criminal Conspiracy, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §903 (F-3);
3. Theft by Unlawful Taking or Disposition, Pa.C.S.A. §3921 (F-3);
4. Theft by Deception, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §3922 (F-3);
5. Forgery, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4101 (F-3);
6. Perjury, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4902 (F-3);
7. Burglary, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §3502 (F-1);
8. Criminal Trespass, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §3503 (F-2 );
9. Tampering with Records or Identification, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4104 (M-1);
10. Securing Execution of Documents by Deception, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4114 (M-2); and
11. Tampering with Public Records or Information, 18 Pa.C.S.A. §4911 (F-3). DeedGammaTheft