Bay Area Man Accused Of Swiping Three Condos Thru Forged Deeds, Then Pocketing $2.2M From Subsequent Refinance

In San Francisco, California, the San Francisco Chronicle reports:

• A 45-year-old San Francisco tennis instructor has been charged with fraudulently obtaining ownership of three high-rise condominiums and borrowing $2.2 million against them. Winston Lum appeared Friday in San Francisco Superior Court but did not enter a plea to 16 felony counts including charges of grand theft, identity theft and forgery, related to a scheme that prosecutors called "an act of hubris difficult to fathom." Lum, who runs a tennis business called Slam and Bang Tennis, was being held on $7.5 million bail.(1) He does not yet have an attorney.

• Prosecutors say that starting in January 2009, Lum forged the true owner's signatures on grant deeds for three condominiums at One Rincon Hill, put them in his name and recorded them with the city. He then borrowed $2.2 million against the units, which are worth a total of $7.5 million, prosecutors said.

• The owner of the properties, identified in a civil lawsuit as Shirley Hwang, had never even met Lum, let alone authorized the transactions, prosecutors said.(2) She sued Lum and his lender, De Witte Mortgage Investors Fund, last year. A trial is set for May. "The whole thing is terrible," said Thomas Mayhew, Hwang's attorney. "Their own forgery expert confirmed that the signature on the deed was not hers ... but they still won't release the mortgage" out of Lum's name.

Source: Tennis teacher accused of condo scam.

(1) Reportedly, Lum was free on $45,000 bail at the time of his arrest while awaiting trial for separate burglary and theft cases, court records show. Those cases are still pending.

(2) Authorities say Hwang became suspicious when she started getting mail for Lum at her home, according to the story. She went to police in March after the management told her she no longer owned the unit in which she lived, the story states.