Four arrested for scamming homebuyers

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - The housing crisis has provided the perfect setting for thieves to take advantage of would-be homebuyers.  

Marion County Prosecutor Terry Curry says thieves pretended to sell foreclosed properties to unsuspecting would-be homebuyers.

The Marion County prosecutor's grand jury division has charged Shela Amos and Beverly Cannedy with scamming 5 people to the tune of $19,000.

Willie Hawkins allegedly took a total of $40,000 dollars from seven people, and Wendell Brown is charged in connection with his attempts to claim he owned a home that was actually owned by a bank.

Although the three cases are not related, they are very similar.

Often the homes were foreclosures.

The thieves would present victims with official looking tenant agreements or agreements to purchase real estate.

Many victims renting the homes believed they were renting to own.  

"A lot of these individuals who were buying a home were given a single piece of paper that looked official and it wasn't until someone showed up that actually had an interest in the home that they realized the person selling them the home had absolutely no authority to do so," said Curry.

Victims lost their money, their houses, and the emotional investment they'd made in the place they called home. 

Curry says in many cases the thieves drilled out the locks in the foreclosed houses and replaced them.

They then would give the keys to the unsuspecting homebuyers.

The prosecutor believes there are likely many more victims.

If you've been a victim of a housing scam or other white collar crime, report it at the Marion County Prosecutor's hotline at 317-327-2700.