Former Bank President Facing Life for Real Estate Fraud

A former bank president at failed Oklahoma bank First State Bank of Altus is facing life in prison for his role in a massive fraud case. Paul Doughty was president and chairman of Altus, and has been convicted of 10 charges including bank fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, misapplication of bank funds, making a false bank entry and unauthorized issuance of a bank loan.

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Stamford Real Estate Investor Pleads Guilty to $17 Million Fraud

The former owner of Cabot Investment Properties LLC, Carlton Cabot, is under fire for his role in a $17 million fraud. This is far from the first time a leading investor pleads guilty to a real estate fraud scheme.

In the multi-year scheme, Cabot took investor funds for his own personal use. The money was spent on expensive private school tuition and a luxury vacation apartment, among other lavish lifestyle expenses. Continue reading

Financial Fraudsters – People Who Slowdown Economy

Financial fraudsters do not only harm their direct victims. The entire economy falls victim when real estate and other financial fraud strikes.

For example, North Carolina home developer Christopher Deans pleaded guilty to a scheme where he paid other bidders at foreclosure auctions not to bid on properties, artificially lowering the price paid for the property and indirectly lowering the values of all homes in the neighborhood. Continue reading

NFL Player Found Guilty in Minnesota Real Estate Fraud Case

Former Minnesota Viking Stu Voigt and business partner Jeffrey Gardner went to trial in January for their role in a multimillion dollar real estate fraud case. They touted their firm, Hennessey Financial LLC, as an avenue for healthy real estate investment profits. Instead, it operated like a Ponzi scheme. Continue reading

Credit Repair Scams Hurt Homebuyers

Credit repair scams are nothing new, but prospective home buyers have to be particularly aware of the risks of dealing with these predatory agencies. As a general rule: if it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

Interest rates have held near record lows for much of the last half-decade, and credit repair companies tout their services to potential borrowers looking to increase their credit score to qualify for a home loan. Continue reading

One Third of American Homebuyers Have Bad Credit

Your credit score is the most important metric in measuring your credit. Banks use your credit score like colleges use a high school GPA: it is a number that tells them how well you will do with them in the future.

A study found that about 30% of Americans were being denied a mortgage because of this one metric. Continue reading

Open House Bandits Make Off With $500k

Police in the greater Toronto area saw report after report arrive telling a similar story. Jewelry, coins, antiques, and other valuables were going missing from open houses. It didn’t take long for the tally to reach $100,000, when the police found they were dealing with a string of related robberies from a couple dubbed the “open house bandits.” Continue reading