LA Feds Bag 3 For Allegedly Running Short Sale Rackets Targeting Distressed Homeowners; Unwitting Buyers Left Holding Bag On Homes With Crappy Titles

In Los Angeles, California, KCBS-TV Channel 2 reports:

• Federal authorities say three Southern California men have been indicted for allegedly running a scam involving short sales that caused more than $10 million in losses. [...] Atiqullah Nabizada, 29, of Coto de Caza, and Kenneth Moore, 49, of Tustin, were arrested Thursday at their homes after a grand jury returned two indictments charging them and a third defendant – 32-year-old Ahmed Tariq Asghari, of Sherman Oaks – with fraud violations and identity theft in connection with a variety of schemes using real or fake short sale real estate transactions and home loans.

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• The defendants preyed on distressed homeowners, claiming to have insiders working at the bank, who, in exchange for cash, would authorize short sales for far less than fair market value, according to court documents. At least twice, the defendants used short sale approval letters that had been entirely fabricated.
  
  
• The defendants also allegedly assumed the identities of property owners and sold and refinanced their properties without authority. [...] As a result of the schemes, federal officials said home buyers and investors bought homes they believed had clear titles but were actually devalued and subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of liens.

For more, see 3 Indicted In $10M Short Sale, Identity Theft Scams.