Archives For Fraud

Allen Seymour, 50 and Tina Seymour, 46, both from Oxford, Massachusetts have been indicted today in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners and mortgage lenders by providing fraudulent documents in legal and real estate transactions in Cambridge and Brookline, Massachusetts.

The Attorney General’s Office alleges that throughout 2017 and 2018, Allen Seymour repeatedly targeted homeowners, including elderly residents, to fraudulently gain control of residential properties and resell them at a profit to investors. The AG’s Office also alleges that Seymour forged power of attorney documents in the name of homeowners and others to gain control over the seller’s proceeds, and then laundered those funds through third party accounts.

Allen Seymour was arrested in South Carolina in May and is currently being held without bail pending probation surrender hearing scheduled for a later date. Seymour will appear in Worcester Superior Court on January 9, 2019 for a hearing regarding his probation surrender.

The AG’s Office alleges that Allen’s former wife, Tina Seymour, assisted with these forgeries and provided unauthorized access to notary stamps.

In 2010, Seymour previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to state prison for a similar mortgage fraud scheme prosecuted by the AG’s Office.

Allen Seymour was indicted by a Statewide Grand Jury on charges of Forgery (7 counts), Uttering (5 counts), Larceny over $250 (5 counts), and Money Laundering (5 counts). Tina Seymour was indicted for Conspiracy to Commit Forgery (2 Counts). Allen Seymour will be arraigned in Norfolk Superior Court at a later date. Tina Seymour will be arraigned in Hampden Superior Court at a later date.

These new charges are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The investigation into this matter is ongoing.

Attorney General Maura Healey made the announcement today.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant Attorneys General Edward Beagan and Sara Shannon of AG Healey’s White Collar & Public Integrity Division, and investigated by Anthony Taylor of the AG’s Financial Investigations Division. The Massachusetts State Police, the Brookline Police, the Cambridge Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigations, and the Horry County Sheriff’s Department of South Carolina assisted with this investigation.

Blanche O’Neal, 49, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York , a former New York City police officer, has been sentenced today to six months in jail and five years’ probation for transferring the title from a neglected three-family house in Bedford-Stuyvesant to herself. The defendant filed a deed transferring the property from the deceased owner’s nephew to herself in 2012, only to see her scheme unravel when the nephew was approached by an actual potential buyer in 2014.

According to trial testimony, on September 12, 2012, the defendant, who was an NYPD officer, executed a deed that stated that she bought the property, 23A Vernon Avenue, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, New York from the nephew of the deceased homeowner, Lillian Hudson, who died in 1993. The nephew and several relatives inherited the property, though it sat vacant and neglected for many years.

The defendant, according to trial testimony, falsely indicated in her filings with the New York City Department of Finance, Office of the City Register, that she purchased the property for $10,000 from the nephew and the deed was purportedly signed by him. The Office of the City Register recorded the deed on October 11, 2012.

Furthermore, in connection with a burglary involving the property, the defendant falsely testified before a grand jury on September 29, 2014, that she owned the property.

In 2014, the nephew and the other heirs were approached by a buyer in the form of a business entity known as 23A Vernon LLC. That is when Lillian Hudson’s heirs discovered the 2012 deed that was filed by the defendant.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez made the announcement.

District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant has now been held accountable for this fraudulent real estate scheme. I will continue to protect Brooklyn homeowners whose valuable properties may be targeted by scam artists. I urge property owners to register their homes with ACRIS (Automated City Register Information System) so that they are automatically informed of changes made to documents associated with their property, such as occurred in this case.”

O’Neal was sentenced today to six months in jail and five years’ probation by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun. She was convicted of first-degree perjury, second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing in February following a bench trial before Justice Chun.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Frank Dudis and Assistant District Attorney Ellen Koenig of the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Unit, and Assistant District Attorney Richard Farrell, Unit Chief, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Deputy Chief of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division.