Smoke And Mirrors

As this saga began, every time I talked to her, Diane again reiterated her claim that she would get a part-time job to make everything right. Or, as Diane put it, "I'll get a job delivering pizzas for Pizza Hut." When we thought about this, the idea of Diane getting a job was actually laughable. Why? Because what can a 71 year old woman with no social skills actually do? Yes, she could deliver pizzas, but that requires good driving skills (uhhh no), a certain amount of fearlessness (don't think so), and an ability to figure change in your head (and as you've already seen, numbers and thinking on her feet ain't exactly Diane's strong point).

What about greeter at Wal-Mart? Lots of retirees do that, right? Well, even if the lack of social skills were to be overlooked, that job requires you be on your feet for the better part of the day and have a certain amount of personality. Given her physical condition and generally nil personality, I figured the best Diane could offer America's largest retailer was someone who would sit at the door most of the day, offering up an occasional phlegmy, "Hi." Rest easy Sam Walton.....

As March began, I started trying to sort out the whole mess. Going through paperwork, trying to correspond that with what Diane could tell me, and playing off anything the FBI had picked up in their investigation. In the middle of the month, Diane (who was either unwilling or unable to tell me the whole story) calls and tells me that she was in the hospital with pneumonia. I ask if she needs anything and she says no. When she does go home (three days after she told me she would), she's on oxygen and weak. So much for getting a job.....

As I went through the paper work, I found Diane owed a shitload of money to everyone, everywhere. Specifically:
Credit Cards
Chase $18,237
Another Chase $8,206
Bank of America $6,620
Catherine's $1,537
J.C. Penney's $3,823

Loans
Car (re-fi) $3,478 (on a $5020 re-fianance of a used car!!!!!!)
Note Loan $571

Mortgages
Her own home $183,714
Home Equity Loan $46,400

Other homes $130,211
$102,638
$92,150

Second Mortgages on the above others
$32,851
$26,388

The other house mortgages would go away with foreclosure, so that only left the credit debt and her own home loan to worry about. I figured, some way, some how, the con man had made off with majority of the funds from her home loan. Whenever I asked where that money went, Diane could only offer, "I don't know."

And, btw, why wasn't there a second mortgage on the third home that the con man had duped Diane into "buying"? Well, because it burned before he could get that lined up. But, where there's a mortgage, there has to be structure insurance, right? Well of course, this guy manages to have Diane take the insurance check she received to the bank and get it cashed (without the endorsement of the mortgage company), specifically instructing her to get the funds in five separate cashier's checks and to bring the checks and receipts to him. She got one of these checks as her payment for this "job", he took the rest. OK, while technically illegal, it certainly paid better than Pizza Hut delivery......

And aside from ill-gotten insurance funds, what was the con man gaining in the house purchases? Since he owned a finance company my guess is, in the primary purchase, he overfinanced the loan (i.e. got a $60k loan on a $40k house sale and split the difference with the seller under the table), racked up big loan fees which were rolled into the loan, and got a commission when he sold the loan upstream. And of course, the second mortgages were just easy cash grabs! Oh, and as I found out from the FBI, he was then renting out these houses, keeping the rent monies, and telling the renters they were renting to own....