Disgraced Ex-Real Estate Agent Bagged In Texas; Brought Back To Pennsylvania To Face Charges In 35 Sale Leaseback, Equity Stripping Ripoffs

In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, The York Dispatch reports:

• A former East Berlin real estate agent allegedly defrauded mortgage lenders, homeowners and investors out of $2.7 million. Joanne M. Seeley, 40, now of Tolar, Texas, is free on supervised bail while awaiting trial in federal court, tentatively set for May 2, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Harrisburg.
• She was arraigned Tuesday in federal court on the 10-count indictment, according to assistant U.S. attorney Kim Douglas Daniel. Seeley is charged with five counts each of wire fraud and making unlawful monetary transactions.
• Between 2006 and 2008, Seeley owned and operated the East Berlin-based business S&D Property Solutions. She was a licensed real estate agent until November 2006, when she surrendered her license in lieu of disciplinary action, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.
• The indictment against her alleges Seeley used false real estate contracts, inflated property appraisals, bogus employment verifications and fictional leases to defraud people and companies out of money. The alleged crimes happened in York, Adams, Cumberland and Dauphin counties, officials said.
• The allegations: Seeley would find homes listed for sheriff's sale and tell the homeowners they could avoid foreclosure by selling their homes to her or her buyers, who would then lease the properties back to the homeowners after the sale, the indictment alleges.
• Seeley assured homeowners this would allow them to pay off debts, rebuild their credit ratings and allow them to qualify for new mortgages when they bought back their homes a year or so later, according to the news release.

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• The defrauded homeowners were never able to buy back their homes, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

For the story, see Feds charge former East Berlin woman in $2.7M real estate scam.

See also, WHTM-TV Channel 27: Former East Berlin real estate agent charged in $2.7 fraud case (A former East Berlin real estate agent has been charged with defrauding 14 mortgage lenders, 35 home owners and five investors in Cumberland, Dauphin, York and Adams counties out of $2.7 million, according to federal prosecutors).

For the U.S. Attorney (Harrisburg, Pennsylvania) press release, see Former Operator Of York County Real Estate Firm Charged With $2.7 Million Mortgage Fraud Scheme.