Dwayne Stewart, 41, West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has been charged with stealing five properties in the City and County of Philadelphia, theft from at least 12 additional victims in fraudulent real estate scams and passing bad checks to victims including the City of Philadelphia Recorder of Deeds Office.
A long term investigation revealed that houses at 2545 N. Newkirk Street, 916 W. Huntingdon Street, 2613 W. Harold Street, 3025 N. Warnock Street and 2148 Reese Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania were all stolen by Stewart from an elderly victim through the creation and recording of fraudulent deeds. Stewart then, in several instances, sold or tried to sell these stolen homes to unsuspecting buyers.
In addition, using both Newkirk St., Huntingdon St. and other properties in Southwest Philadelphia Stewart defrauded apartment seekers and apartment owners by unlawfully renting out apartments, accepting deposits and payments for apartments with which he had no relationship. In several cases, without the knowledge of the true owner or the rental agency, Stewart left the unsuspecting tenants stranded with no home.
Stewart has been charged with :
• Forgery (F-3)- 7 counts
• Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (F-3)- 13 counts
• Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (M-1)- 3 counts
• Att. Theft-Unlawful Taking or Disposition (F-3)- 1 count
• Theft by Deception (F-3)- 13 counts
• Theft by Deception (M-1)- 3 counts
• Att. Theft by Deception (F-3)- 1 count
• Receiving Stolen Property (F-3)-7 counts
• Receiving Stolen Property (M-1)- 3 counts
• Deceptive Practices (F-3)- 1 count
• Tampering w/Public Records/Information (F-3)- 8 counts
• Tampering w/Records or Identification (M-1)- 8 counts
• Defiant Trespass (F-3)- 1 count
• Securing Execution of Docs (M-2)- 10 counts
• Bad Checks (M-1)- 1 count
• Bad Checks (M-2)- 4 counts
Detectives arrested Stewart on April 4, 2013, and his arraignment is set for April 5, 2013.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office announced the charges. ADA Matthew Perks of the District Attorney’s Private Criminal Complaints Unit is specially assigned to this case.
The investigatiton was led by the Southwest Detective Division of the Philadelphia Police Department
