New York, June 20, 2007—A new wave of street and white collar real estate scammers have joined forces to hit the unprotected poor and un-educated immigrant communities in United States.

Targets

• The main targets are huge sum of money in the American banks and money-lending institutions
• To get to the main target, the real estate scammers recruit gullible poor, un-educated, un-informed, un-suspecting immigrants with good credit ratings to process mortgage loans and home development/improvement loans in their names with false promises of cashing in on the booming real estate market in the United States.
• It has to be pointed out, though, that some of the recruited poor immigrants knowingly offer their names as tools, as long as huge amount of money is promised; many are fully aware about the scams and went along with the promise and hope to make money.

Methodology variations

There appear to be many variations in the methodology used in these scams; however, there are also quite a number of similarities.

United States Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales

The scammers working through street criminals within the immigrant communities would recruit the poor victims, sometimes undocumented immigrants with prospects of making big money in real estate business by using their names only (no financial investment, no time commitment, no paperwork run-around whatsoever), as far as the victims have good credits. The only thing the scammers need from the procured gullible victims are their names, social security numbers, willingness to go to the closing location and sign their signatures on prepared papers. The scammers would assure their victims that they will handle the rest.

The crooks promised the victims that they will buy houses in their names, manage the houses - collect the rent, pay the mortgage and do all repairs and within a period of about 2 -6 months they will sell the houses and they (the victims) would make a lot of money.

The scammers would tell the victims that this is perfectly legal and everybody is doing it and that lawyers and brokers and the banks are in it and everything is okay.

If the victims want, the scammers would take them to the attorneys, real estate and mortgage brokers so they will repeat the business deal and repeat that it is perfectly legal.

Seeing that lawyers, real estate and mortgage brokers say it is okay, the victims would become ‘gun-ho’ to go along.

The scammers would handle everything else such as finding suitable (usually dilapidated) houses, negotiating the purchase, processing the loans, ‘manufacturing’ all necessary paper-works and getting the loans approved.

The scammers will find dilapidated houses, buy those houses at very cheap prices but over-inflate the value and loan amount the victim would sign at closing. They would inform the victim that the loans were inflated to use the excess money on top to repair the houses purchased and share the rest among them.

After closing, the crooks would collect the rent from the tenants in the houses but would never pay the mortgages. The repairs they claimed they would do with the inflated amount never happen. Sometimes the poor immigrants whose names are used to purchase the houses get the full amount promised, but in most cases they do not.

Threats and intimidations

When the undocumented victims protest, the scammers would threaten to report them to immigration and get them deported. The crooks would also threaten to harm victim’s children in their home country if they dare say more. The crooks would also threaten to implicate the illiterate victims in all the illegalities which they (the crooks) committed in the loan application processing.

Effectively suppressed, the victims would leave the crooks alone and live in constant fear while the crooks cruise around savoring their exploits unconcerned about the tremendous pains inflicted on their fellow ‘brothers and sisters’. 

While those houses would end up going into foreclosure; the victims are left with ruined credit, huge financial debt and a lot of head and heart aches.

“Che i !!!”, “Oti o !!!” and “Ha ba !!!” wondered a group of African immigrants interviewed in the course of our investigations.

“Can you believe this? It sounds unbelievable, right? But it is true” quibbled a baffled member of the African immigrant community.

Africans In America News Watch investigations show that so many poor and unsuspecting members of the African community in United States have fallen victims to this scam and they are too terrified to say a word for fear of deportation. The community is really bleeding, indeed.

Africans In America News Watch investigations also reveal that quite a number of frustrated African victims may be contemplating suicide.

Our investigations also reveals that some hardcore crooks that knowing participated in this fraud and benefited substantially may be fanning and claiming victim as a ploy to escape been held accountable for many crimes they willingly committed. However, there is the concern that this may pose major problems for individuals who are the real victims.

Losers

The biggest losers in this scam are:

• The poor and actual victims (unsuspecting immigrants) whose names are on the huge mortgage loans are biggest losers. Most of them did not make any substantial amount of money, the scammers never intended them to make any money either, their lives and future of their families are finished, FINITO!
• Another big looser is the American public.

Surprisingly, the scammers namely; the street-level recruiters, the real estate brokers and mortgage brokers are usually members of African immigrant communities.

Africans In America News Watch investigations have determined that most victims are too ashamed and frightened to discuss what happened to them, but when the victims are sufficiently informed of the implication of what these crooks had done to them, their names and future, they: 1) become enraged, empowered and willing to go public, 2) become willing to speak to law enforcement to tell their story, and 3) become ready to fight back regardless of any threats and intimidation.

Africans In America News Watch investigations have learnt that a group of African victims frustrated and not knowing what else to do had out of desperation gone ahead to contact the very high-level of United States government regarding their plights.

Africans In America News Watch investigations have determined that most immigrants would be willing to do battle with the scammers if they (undocumented immigrants) could be assured of protection by the government.