My Name was used to SCAM 2 Elderly Men!

I can't believe that our credentials were used to scam 2 elderly men out of $60,000.

Imagine my surprise when I got a letter in the mail with a copy of a promissary note in my name, a copy of a "Deed of Trust with Assignments of Rents" on the property we rehabbed in Riverside and a copy of the 2 deposited checks of $30,000 into an account called Carlton Financial at Wells Fargo, a copy of the appraisal on the property, and a letter asking me to pay the monthly installments directly to the investors.

Evidentially, these men were offered a high interest investment secured by a property that appeared to be worth more than the appraisal.  They themselves felt it was a good risk.  The scammer even made a few of the interest payments - but then it stopped.

We bought the property in California late July, 2009. In August I inquired with a broker about getting some cash out of the house so we could accelerate our investing activities. The broker ordered an appraisal which came in at a rediculously low amount. That meant that we wouldn't be able to get enough cash to do anything significant so we turned it down, and decided to wait for it to sell.

According to these elderly gentlement, this lady presented them with the appraisal and drove them to the property. They also thought the property was worth more than the appraisal and felt confident in taking $60,000 out of their CD to fund a secure property earning a much higher interest rate. She even paid their interest payments for a couple of months and then she disappeared.

I'm not out any money, and the county records are executed properly. The only ones financially affected from this deal is these poor men, but I still feel violated and am appauled that someone falsly used my credentials and our property to steal money from the elderly.

Mary Perkins, from Carlton Financial has plead guilty to mail fraud. Her sentencing is scheduled for December 7, 2010.