Massive Mortgage Fraud In Queens: NYC Media Ignore It

Back in 2007, I wrote three posts on an unbelievably sleazy criminal, one Thomas Kontogiannis.

I contacted the news rooms at several local papers, including the Times, the Daily News, the Post, and a paper or two in Queens. Nothing but crickets in response. This is no boring story: Tommy K is now in prison for bribing California GOP Congressman Duke Cunningham. This was HUGE news on the West Coast - but not a single column inch of coverage here in NYC. Why?

Via Talking Points Memo, Reuters has a story up on Kontogiannis's $92 million dollar mortgage fraud. Maybe this contributed to Queens foreclosure rates dwarfing those of every other borough.

Real estate developer Thomas Kontogiannis, 60, and eight other defendants are accused of orchestrating fraudulent loans that were subsequently sold to the financial firms.

Federal prosecutors and the FBI said the scheme was centered around property developments that Kontogiannis bought and subdivided from 2001 to 2003 in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.

To finance the projects, the defendants are accused of staging sales of the properties financed by mortgage loans. Bogus appraisals supported the price of the properties, even where buildings had not yet been constructed or had fictional addresses, said the U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn, which is prosecuting the case.

The Daily News failed to cover any aspect of this story, except for this mention in an article about tax delinquents:

Federal prosecutors who indicted Long Island financier Thomas Kontogiannis for laundering bribes to California Rep. Randy (Duke) Cunningham tied him to at least 22 companies including Westshore 480 Development, which, the city says, owes $751,708 in taxes on a waterfront property in Brooklyn.
A lawyer for Kontogiannis denied his client owned Westshore 480 or owed money for its property taxes. "He has no ownership and no liability," lawyer Robert Wolf said. "It would not be accurate to report that he does."

Apparently this guy was also involved in some shady business with spy agencies. All the more reason local papers should take an interest in an investigative story - but so far, no takers. What gives?

I Am Popular!

How else to explain such heartfelt entreaties in my inbox from wealthy strangers living abroad?

Honey,
URGENT More information
i want to come to your country to stay with you,honey,please dont be surprise,my parents were died by food poison and my uncle sent me out from his house,he is wicked man i hate him and i can never stay with him anymore.

if you promised to send me letter of invitation and will not cheat me when i come to stay with you,i promised you will never regret having me,my late father has with his bank 2.5MUS$,i was his only daughter living nexk of kin,my uncle is wicked thats why i refused to give him my inheritance and he send me out from his house.I am 20 years old and my brother 17 years oId from Small country origin Seirra Leone Republic,i want to be a nurse when i come to your country,the bank remittance director said i am too small to handle such money that i should look for foreign partner to stand for me for easy transfer and investment purposes,that is why i am seeking for your help if you wish.

Pls,honey,tell me about you? and i want to see your picture how you look like?

Rose Linda Benjamin

O internet, you bring me so much joy.
~

Nigerian E-mail Scam Gets A New Twist - Abu Ghraib!

You do have to appreciate the originality in this one: no oil company or bank corruption or funds looted from an African treasury . . . this one combines elements of "Three Kings" and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal.

Dear Sir,
I have managed to sneak out this email to you from my confinement here in one of our military bases in Germany.My name is Col.Charles Telma of The US Army. I was based in Iraq until recently,I was sent back to Germany because of the Iraqi prisoner abuse scandal in which I was unfortunately implicated. I am still under House Arrest,pending the outcome of investigation.
During my sojourn in Iraq, I was able to successfully smuggle US$ 21.7m out of Iraq to a location in Europe. I reckoned that being a soldier I would not be in the best position to give a satisfactory account of how I came about such an amount of money.I could therefore not conclude the proccess of securing the money before I was apprehended as I was at a loss about into which account one could pay it and that is where your assistance comes in.
I have resolved to share the total sum with you in the fairest ratio that we shall both agree on as settlement for your own part of the deal.
Please,ponder over this and feed me back as I am in dire need of your assistance at this time.Please, send me your private contact info. in order to facilitate an easier and more private correspondence between us.
I must assure you that this will not expose you to any risk as all the possible risk has been foreseen and taken care of. I must also remind you that transaction of this magnitude and nature is to be handled carefully in order for both of us to be well protected. I shall send you more details as soon as I hear from you.I implore you to really consider this offer and feed me back. Also let me know how you wish to be settled for your role in the business.Please,reply tochtelma_1@yahoo.de I await your response with much optimism.
Thanks in advance,
Best Regards
Charles telma (Col).

Feel free to toy with this clown if you have hours to kill. But there's no way you will top the 419 Eater. For the all-time best scam-baiting, check this out. May be the funniest thing you'll ever read, and you'll learn the story behind the picture above.