Florida Man Cops Plea To Stealing Title To Vacant Homes, Then Pocketing $500K+ In Subsequent Mortgage Refinancing Proceeds

From the Office of the Florida Attorney General:

• Attorney General Bill McCollum [last week] announced that a Columbia County man has pleaded guilty to his involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme. [... Rory V.] Porter, 42, was arrested in November 2007 by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after detectives from the Alachua and Columbia County Sheriffs’ Offices discovered Porter’s involvement in a mortgage fraud scheme with elements of identity theft.

• The investigation revealed that, between May 2007 and August 2007, Porter befriended owners of homes which were free of any liens, vacant, and for sale. Using information he obtained through his relationship with the homeowners and from public records, Porter forged documents and recorded deeds to transfer the homes to his possession. He would then locate private lenders and borrow money using the homes as collateral. Authorities believe Porter stole homes in the Gainesville and Lake City areas worth in excess of $800,000 and obtained loans against those homes in excess of $500,000.

For the entire press release, see Columbia County Man Pleads Guilty to Mortgage Fraud Scheme.