FBI Probes Va. Company's Workers in House Swindle
Lawsuits Outline Scheme to Forge Deeds to Steal Vacant Properties
By Allan Lengel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, March 13, 2008; D01
The FBI is investigating whether employees of a now-defunct Northern Virginia mortgage company were involved in what several lawsuits allege was a scheme to steal vacant houses by forging deeds, according to people familiar with the probe.
The people under investigation worked for 1st American Mortgage of Vienna, which boasted that it delivered "honest expert advice." The company, which operated about half a dozen satellite offices in the Washington area, went out of business last fall after eight years. The former chief executive's $2 million house in a gated community in McLean has been foreclosed upon.
As federal investigators step up efforts to crack down on irregularities in the real estate industry, the lawsuits and FBI probe provide a glimpse into some of the practices that flourished before the housing boom dissolved.
Some of the allegations of fraud are outlined in filings in D.C. Superior Court and in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Alexandria by those who claim to be victims, including two District property owners and the pension fund of a Northern Virginia company.
The property owners have alleged in separate lawsuits that people, unbeknownst to them, illegally took possession of their vacant property by forging the deeds, and then attempted to sell the property. Loans in both situations were arranged by a 1st American employee. Late last year, judges found that the deeds were invalid and ordered the properties returned to their rightful owners.
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