Free Republic

On Monday, Hawaii’s Democrat Governor Josh Green announced that his administration is actively considering acquiring properties in Lahaina that have been devastated by recent wildfires. A total of 99 deaths were recorded as a result of the wildfires that occurred in Maui. Concerns have been raised among officials regarding the potential increase in the death toll, as just 25% of the burn area has been searched thus far. Local residents are grappling with not only the loss of homes and loved ones but the unsettling attention of developers looking to capitalize on their tragedy. USA Today reported a particularly distressing...

Inland swindler awaiting sentencing commits suicide By RICHARD BROOKS and LESLIE BERKMAN The Press-Enterprise An admitted swindler has hanged himself in Palm Desert where he was awaiting sentencing to as much as 32 years in federal prison for filing false tax returns and for his role in a mortgage and security scheme that prosecutors say cost investors $142 million. Christopher J. Oetting was found dead at 7:50 p.m. Feb. 16 at his home along the 40000 block of Sagewood Drive. He was free on $225,000 bond. Oetting pleaded guilty Dec. 21 in federal court in Los Angeles to money-laundering, conspiracy...

.....a brazen family of fraudsters took advantage of sloppy subprime mortgage lenders to pull off a mindblowing scheme reeling in more than $200M - a devastating hit that contributed to the nation's financial crisis. Garri Zhigun was part of a Russian fraud ring using false documents, stolen ID's and "straw" buyers for over 1,000 subprime mortgages 2004-06. The 27-member gang worked out of a Brooklyn mortgage brokerage owned by Zhigun's mother........targets included fallen lenders Washington Mutual Bank, conned out of $842,500, Countrywide taken for $396,000.......and preyed on other banks and mortgage companies. Zhigun and accomplice Aleksander "Shorty" Lipkin bought condos...

Former homeowners say they have lost a combined $1.77 million in property and equity to Bey associate and her spouse -- An Antioch real estate broker with ties to Oakland's Bey family and her husband have, since 2003, acquired nearly $2 million worth of East Bay properties through deals tainted with allegations of deceit. The revelations about Esperanza Johnson and Antron Thurman come as authorities scrutinize the extensive real estate dealings of the Bey family, their bankrupt Your Black Muslim Bakery and Johnson's role as the broker for an Oakland woman attempting to buy the bakery's headquarters. Johnson bore four...