The Creative Investor - House (scam) of Horrors

A crooked couple ran a $5million scam on homebuyers by selling them vacant homes they didn’t own.

Prosecutors said the scam by Maria Leyna Albertina, 39 and her husband, Raymond, 41, was fairly simple.

They selected houses with back tax bills, finding them on a foreclosure web site, www.jer.com.

Once the Albertinas and their crew of three confirmed a home was empty, they would pay some of the back taxes to stave off foreclosure. They then allegedly forged a deed, notary stamps and signatures to make it appear that the actual owner sold the house

to one of several shell companies they created- among them Beef Patty Breath.

The properties were then sold to unsuspecting buyers.

The scammers would use part of the sales price to pay off the remaining tax bill and pocket the rest.

“ This is the most stunning example of white-collar fraud I’ve seen,” Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes said. The scheme unraveled when a legitimate property owner discovered that his home had been sold from under him.

The Albertinas allegedly used their ill-gotten wealth to buy a $600,000.00 house in Merrick Long Island, which they tore down; they put up a mansion in its place. They bought a $50,000.00 sport-utility vehicle and a $200,000.00, powder blue luxury motorboat called Miei Tre Bambinas- Italian for my three babies.

Kayon Williams, a single mom of 16-month-old twin girls, bought two Brooklyn homes from the Albertinas, planning to rent them out for income. “I’m devastated,” she said, tears welling up in her eyes. “ I don’t know what I’m going to do.’

Anyone victimized in the scheme will have to try to recoup losses through civil suits against mortgage and title insurance firms, officials said.

The Albertinas’ assets could also be sold off and the proceeds split among the victims.

By Melissa Grace-------------------------------------------------------------------------------*