Brooklyn DA indicts 3 men on housing fraud charges

Three people were indicted Wednesday on unrelated fraud charges for their alleged involvement in a mortgage and real estate scheme. Two of the three suspects are accused of selling one building at 1162

News 12 Staff

Jun 4, 2008, 6:49 PM

Updated 5,973 days ago

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Three people were indicted Wednesday on unrelated fraud charges for their alleged involvement in a mortgage and real estate scheme.
Two of the three suspects are accused of selling one building at 1162 Pacific St. to two different buyers. That building was burned down between the sales. The third man, George Marx, was indicted on a charge of faking a deed and claiming ownership of two buildings in the Flatbush area.
According to the Brooklyn District Attorney?s Office, the investigation started in 2006 when authorities were looking into a string of suspected arson fires in the Crown Heights- Bedford-Stuyvesant area.
The DA says that while investigating the five fires along Pacific Street, prosecutors followed standard protocol and checked the financial history of the houses. According to the DA, that is when the fraud was discovered.
Further inquiry revealed a Brooklyn mortgage and real estate scheme and led authorities to the suspects.
The DA says, however, the three men are not charged with arson.
According to the DA, cases of housing fraud are more commonplace now than in the past because the perpetrators know there is a lot of money to be made through real estate schemes.