Canada- Man & woman, wanted after Toronto home sold without consent of owners, January 2022 *Photos released*

New Posts

D

dotr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 21, 2009
Messages
51,602
Reaction score
144,090
1672957030956.png

1672957054694.png
torontosun.com

Two people wanted after Toronto home sold without consent of owners

Toronto Police are requesting the public’s help in identifying two people they allege were involved in mortgage fraud.
torontosun.com torontosun.com
''Authorities say during the month of January 2022, the owners of a Toronto property were out of the country on business when two people impersonated them with fake identification, hired a real estate agent, listed the property for sale, sold it and new homeowners took possession.''

Several months after the home sale the real homeowners figured out their home had been sold without their consent.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police at 416-808-7310, Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477), or at www.222tips.com.''
 
1672957734109.png
''According to police, a man and a woman used fake identification to pose as the homeowners. They then hired a realtor who listed the house for sale.

Police say the house was sold and new homeowners took possession.''

''The spokesperson said the force can't provide any advice on how the public can protect themselves from a fraud of this nature, but said this is not the victims' fault.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact them at 416-808-7310. Information can also be provided anonymously via CrimeStoppers.''
 
Good reason to hire a house sitter if your trusted neighbour cannot look after your property while you are away.

Always have someone empty your mail box, cut your grass and pick up the flyers for you.

Lights on timers and have someone park their car in your driveway if possible.
 
rbbm.
torontosun.com

Homeowners urged to get title insurance after Etobicoke real estate fraud

Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your home says the Ontario Real Estate’s Association’s Tim Hudak.
torontosun.com torontosun.com
''Hudak said he was “shocked’ when he heard about the Etobicoke case, and called the criminals who pulled the fraud off highly “sophisticated.”

“This level of identify theft combined with mortgage and real estate fraud is thankfully rare in Canada but we should all be on guard,” said Hudak.

“Basically this must have been sophisticated criminals to assume the identity of the homeowners, to stage viewings of the home without the neighbours knowing, and also to get by their lawyer, the lawyers for the buyers, as well as the realtor, and a financial institution, all who are responsible for verifying identification. Whether they had somebody as an accomplice, or people just messed up, they did somehow get through the existing checks. This is an extraordinary circumstance.”
 
dotr said:
rbbm.
torontosun.com

Homeowners urged to get title insurance after Etobicoke real estate fraud

Better to be safe than sorry when it comes to your home says the Ontario Real Estate’s Association’s Tim Hudak.
torontosun.com torontosun.com

“This level of identify theft combined with mortgage and real estate fraud is thankfully rare in Canada but we should all be on guard,” said Hudak.

“Basically this must have been sophisticated criminals to assume the identity of the homeowners, to stage viewings of the home without the neighbours knowing, and also to get by their lawyer, the lawyers for the buyers, as well as the realtor, and a financial institution, all who are responsible for verifying identification. Whether they had somebody as an accomplice, or people just messed up, they did somehow get through the existing checks. This is an extraordinary circumstance.”
Click to expand...

rsbm bbm

I expect these professionals are hearing a lot of questions from LE and regulators. Especially the lawyer representing the scammers in the transaction.

The financial institution likely has some level of CCTV, wonder how long images are stored?
 
Lengthy article.

''It's happened again. 2nd Toronto home listed for sale without homeowner's knowledge''​

Jan 12 2023
''When Melissa Walsh's great uncle moved into a long-term care home in late 2021 just before his 95th birthday, her family decided to rent out the east end Toronto home he's owned since the 1970s. The idea was to help him pay his expenses.

The family had turned to a local Royal LePage brokerage where two real estate agents helped them find and screen tenants to rent the house on Maclean Avenue in The Beach neighbourhood starting in December 2021.

That began a chain of events that Walsh describes as "the ultimate real estate nightmare."

The family later learned the tenants chosen had used fake identity documents and bogus references on their lease application, and Walsh said police eventually referred to them as "ghosts" after trying to locate them.

What's more, just weeks after the lease agreement was signed, the family found out that someone posing as the 95-year-old homeowner had hired two different real estate agents from another Royal LePage brokerage to list the house for sale without the family's knowledge or permission.

The home was staged with furniture, advertised online for $1.29 million and quickly generated a flurry of offers, Walsh said. One came in at $1.9 million.''

''A coordinated scheme'​

In a statement, a spokesperson for Royal LePage said it doesn't govern day-to-day operations at its brokerages, which are all independently owned and operated. But licensed sales representatives are obligated to abide by industry regulations and to perform due diligence as laid out by the regulating body.

"This very unfortunate incident was clearly a coordinated scheme aiming to take advantage of real estate professionals and an innocent family," communications director Anne-Elise Cugliari Allegritti wrote.''
 
Jan 13 2023 Alex Arsenych rbbm
www.cp24.com

This is how to protect yourself from real estate title fraud, experts say

There have been two incidents this month of homeowners coming back from a trip to find their house has been sold or listed on the market without their consent.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com

''There have been two incidents this month of homeowners coming back from a trip to find their house has been sold or listed on the market without their consent.

Earlier this month, Toronto police warned the public of two people who impersonated the owners of an Etobicoke-area home, allegedly hired a real estate agent, and listed the house for sale.

Police say the two unidentified individuals were able to sell the property, and new homeowners took possession of it.''

''Toronto police said they are now investigating a second, similar incident. This time, police say the house was listed, but the fraudulent owners were not able to complete the sale. Investigators believe both cases are connected.

There are limited details about what happened this time, but Royal LePage agents fell victim to the latest scam.''

....
''The federal government has a few tips online for what Canadians can do to protect themselves against real estate fraud, including keeping your mortgage information in a safe spot, speaking with your lawyer before giving someone else the right to your home, and researching anyone who tries to offer you a loan.

If you think you have fallen victim to title fraud, the federal government recommends contacting the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre, reaching out to your provincial land registry's office, and filing a police report.''
 
It happened again!
Jan 20 2023 rbbm.
www.cp24.com

How thieves stole a Toronto condo in 'total title fraud', selling it for $970,000

The professional photographs posted on a property tour website last year show Moffy Yu's condo in downtown Toronto, a light-filled two-bedroom home with floor-to-ceiling windows framing sweeping views from the tallest residential tower in Canada.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
''The professional photographs posted on a property tour website last year show Moffy Yu's condo in downtown Toronto, a light-filled two-bedroom home with floor-to-ceiling windows framing sweeping views from the tallest residential tower in Canada.

Documents provided by Yu show the home was listed for $978,000 last May 11, then sold for $970,000 nine days later, near the height of the pandemic property boom. Ontario land title documents show ownership was transferred for that sum on June 15 to a new buyer who took out a mortgage with the Bank of Montreal.

But Yu, a former international student who now lives in China's Hubei province, said she never put her home in the Aura skyscraper on Yonge Street up for sale.

Instead, she said, it was stolen.

The property was listed by an impersonator who gained access to the vacant home, staged the photo shoot, listed it and sold it, all without her knowledge, she said. In the process, the impersonator appears to have duped the buyer, two sets of property agents, lawyers involved in the sale, a major bank and the Ontario land registry.''
 
lengthy article, rbbm,
John Lancaster, Nicole Brockbank, Farrah Merali · CBC News · Posted: Jan 23, 2023
''CBC Toronto has learned that a handful of organized crime groups are behind these real-estate frauds — in which at least 30 homes in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) have either been sold or mortgaged without the real owners' knowledge. Those revelations come from a private investigation firm working for a title insurance company to try and get to the bottom of the scams, which are costing insurers millions in claims. ''

....

''So how does this actually happen? King says an organized crime group starts by looking through publicly available property records for a home without a mortgage — or a small one where there's still a lot of equity left in the property — as a target.

From there, the groups who ultimately receive the fraudulent funds use stolen IDs and hire "stand-ins" to pose as tenants to gain access to the home, and other "stand-ins" impersonate homeowners to mortgage or sell it.

"A lot of times they're petty criminals that are paid anywhere from $5,000 to $10,000 to stand-in and pose as the homeowners," said King. "The people behind the frauds do not want to be front-facing."

''The stand-ins, like the pair Toronto police were trying to identify through a press release earlier this month, are also being shared between crime groups, according to King, depending on the ethnicity of the person needed to impersonate the homeowner.

After that, the mortgage or sale happens quickly. For the sales, the fake homeowners often accept the first reasonable offer they get. ''

1674520702705.png
 
By Nono ShenThe Canadian Press
Thu., Jan. 26, 2023
www.thestar.com

Impersonators posing as homeowners linked to 32 fraud cases in Ontario and B.C.

Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigato...
www.thestar.com www.thestar.com
''Mortgage and title fraudsters who impersonate homeowners and tenants have targeted at least 32 properties in Ontario and British Columbia, investigators and official warnings suggest.''


''King said such impersonators had to put in performances worthy of an “Emmy Award,” but they were not the only people involved in the scam.

“What you got to understand is that the people that are doing this, it’s a group … It takes several people to make this process work,” said King.

He said his firm was handling six claims of total title fraud, with several coming forward after recent media coverage of the fraud technique.''
 
www.cp24.com

3 people charged after allegedly impersonating homeowners to sell Toronto property

Three people have been charged after allegedly impersonating the owners of a Toronto home and selling it while they were away on vacation.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
1674861006666.png
January 27, 2023 5:09PM EST
''Three people have been charged after allegedly impersonating the owners of a Toronto home and selling it while they were out of the country.
According to police, two men and a woman were intercepted a York Region bank on Jan. 26 trying to retrieve the money they allegedly made after fraudulently selling the property in January.
On Thursday, the suspects allegedly went to the unnamed bank when they were approached by police.''


''Forty-one-year-old Xue Wang faces various charges, including, but not limited to, possession of proceeds obtained by crime over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, and utter forged documents.

Xing Yu Lin and Ling Pan, both 22-year-olds from Toronto, have been charged with fraud over $5,000.

The investigation is ongoing, as investigators believe there may be more victims.

Anyone with information is asked to call Toronto police, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or at www.222tips.com.''
 
Not just happening in Canada..
''Feb 23, 2023
www.wfla.com

Dunedin man discovers his house was stolen through deed fraud

“They just gave him my house!” Jenkins said. “On probably two hours worth of work of electronically transmitting those documents.”
www.wfla.com www.wfla.com
''DUNEDIN, Fla. (WFLA) — John Whitt Jenkins is thankful to have his Dunedin house back after he discovered someone quietly filed public documents, claiming they bought it from him.

In an instant, he no longer owned his house, and received nothing in return!

“They forged my signature and they had to fake witnesses on there and a fictitious notary on there saying I sold my house for $160,000, and that was it and the county went with it,” Jenkins said.

Dunedin man discovers his house stolen through deed fraud''
 
dotr said:
www.cp24.com

3 people charged after allegedly impersonating homeowners to sell Toronto property

Three people have been charged after allegedly impersonating the owners of a Toronto home and selling it while they were away on vacation.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com
View attachment 398257
January 27, 2023 5:09PM EST
''Three people have been charged after allegedly impersonating the owners of a Toronto home and selling it while they were out of the country.
According to police, two men and a woman were intercepted a York Region bank on Jan. 26 trying to retrieve the money they allegedly made after fraudulently selling the property in January.
On Thursday, the suspects allegedly went to the unnamed bank when they were approached by police.''


''Forty-one-year-old Xue Wang faces various charges, including, but not limited to, possession of proceeds obtained by crime over $5,000, laundering proceeds of crime, and utter forged documents.

Xing Yu Lin and Ling Pan, both 22-year-olds from Toronto, have been charged with fraud over $5,000.

The investigation is ongoing, as investigators believe there may be more victims.

Anyone with information is asked to call Toronto police, or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 416-222-TIPS (8477) or at www.222tips.com.''
Click to expand...

The CBC goes into the details about how they were caught. The ID they were using and the fact the transaction was done using a new account raised red flags with the bank. So they went to the home (the real estate agent, iirc) and started knocking on doors in the neighbourhood. They then found out from a neighbour that the true owners were in China(!!). So a sting operation was set up and they were caught.
 
Previously posted on the Sherman murders thread, by Gina20
March 2023
www.toronto.com

Man wanted by Toronto police after Chinese law firms reportedly targeted in $10M mortgage fraud scam

Toronto police’s financial crimes unit is working to locate a man wanted in a $10-million mortgage fraud investigation.
www.toronto.com www.toronto.com
1679511134424.png
Yuansen Fu, 23, of Toronto, is wanted in a $10-million mortgage fraud investigation. - Toronto Police Service photo

''Investigators said, since August 2020, they’ve received several reports of mortgage fraud targeting law firms in the Chinese community.

Police allege a man has been working with a female mortgage broker based in North York, near Sheppard Avenue East and Highway 404. They said this individual, who reportedly uses fake identification, purports to be a legitimate homeowner and fraudulently obtains mortgages on victims' homes without their knowledge.


Investigators said, at times, this man also claims to be a representative for a mortgage company.''
 
There are more!
Bryann Aguilar,
Aug 26 '23

www.cp24.com

Four suspects sought after allegedly posing as GTA homeowners to sell property, take out second mortgage

Peel Regional Police are looking for four suspects allegedly involved in real estate scams in the Greater Toronto Area that saw them sell a property they rented and, in one instance, take out a second mortgage by pretending to be the homeowner.
www.cp24.com www.cp24.com

1693067094630.png
Keith Edmondson (left), Duc Thai Luu, and two unidentified people are being sought by police in a real estate scam investigation. (Supplied)

''Peel Regional Police are looking for four suspects allegedly involved in real estate scams in the Greater Toronto Area that saw them sell a property they rented and, in one instance, take out a second mortgage by pretending to be the homeowner.

Police said the incidents occurred between June and October 2022.

The suspects allegedly rented multiple properties in the GTA using fake identifications.

In one incident, when the property was empty, the suspects assumed the owner’s identity and opened accounts under their name, police said.

They then allegedly sold the property, depositing the money into a fraudulent account.

In another instance, they allegedly took out a second mortgage on another property by posing as the owner. They then deposited the money into the fraudulent account.

Police said victims were defrauded nearly $700,000 each.''
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

DNASolves

Who is Escambia County John Doe (1989)?

Members online

... and 119 more.
Total: 1,331 (members: 120, guests: 1,211)

Online statistics

Members online
120
Guests online
1,211
Total visitors
1,331
Totals may include hidden visitors.

Forum statistics

Threads
591,796
Messages
17,958,984
Members
228,607
Latest member
wdavewong
Back
Top