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“Straw Buyer” Hiding Out, Frightened

by Paul Bass | Jul 16, 2010 11:48 am

(15) Comments | Commenting has been closed | E-mail the Author

Posted to: Legal Writes

(Editor’s Note: This article has been updated and corrected. Some quotes had been wrongly attributed to a figure in this case. Click here to read a subsequent story that offers the full details on what happened in this case.) Alicia Martineau knew what it was like to wait tables to pay the bills. Then one day she showed up at a house closing in Fair Haven—and allegedly walked away with $10,000 in a black trash bag simply for pretending to be the buyer.

Now Martineau finds herself enmeshed in one of the largest white-collar fraud cases New Haven has seen in years.

Unlike some prominent men accused of running the scam, Martineau hasn’t been arrested in the case. It’s unclear if she is talking to the federal law-enforcement agents prosecuting it.

She’s not talking about it in public, at least for now. She declined to respond to repeated requests for comment left through friends and through her Facebook account.

“Family and friends are taking care of her right now. She’s very frightened,” said a man who referred to himself as Martineau’s “representative.”

“She’s 23. She’s a young kid. This is not a grown woman experienced in any of this,” the “representative” said. “She got involved with some guys who used her and took advantage of her.” He said he would pass along a request for further comment to Martineau’s lawyer, whom he didn’t name and who never called back. (Subsequently a sentencing memo in this case identified the caller as Martineau’s boyfriend.)

Facebook Photo Martineau (pictured) got involved in an alleged plan to rip off lenders—both the federal government and private mortgage companies—of millions of dollars through elaborately documented sham purchases and renovations of houses in low-income New Haven neighborhoods and in other parts of Connecticut.

The FBI last month arrested a former state representative, a rabbi, a West Haven police commissioner and one-time “Irishman of the Year,” and an alleged ringleader who goes by “Ali” and “Asad” in connection with running the alleged ring. Read about those arrests here.

The group obtained $10 million in improper mortgages on 35 New Haven properties, stiffing lenders for 30 to 40 percent of that amount, according to the feds. According to an indictment, here’s how it worked: The group would find someone to pretend to buy a house. The person’s name would go on the sale documents and the mortgage application, which often would contain fake information. The documents would list the sale price as far higher than the real amount being paid; a phony appraisal would back up the fake price. Then the ringleaders would obtain mortgages based on the fake price, divide up the profits, stiff the lender (in some cases a federal program to assist low-income homebuyers), and let the run-down homes fall back into foreclosure. Some of the houses have since been abandoned, exacerbating blight in New Haven neighborhoods seeking to remain stable amid a foreclosure crisis. (Some of those arrested told the Independent that they’re innocent.)

To make the alleged scheme work, the scammers needed everyday-seeming people to commit the crime of pretending to buy houses, put their names on sale and mortgage documents, accept a quick payday, then get lost.

People like Alicia Martineau.

Or, as the feds refer to her in an indictment, “straw buyer ‘A.M.’”

Shady Documents

Martineau graduated Co-op High School in 2004 and was a memberSouthern Connecticut State University in 2008, she notes on her Facebook page. According to her MySpace page, she worked as a waitress while studying at SCSU. According to SCSU spokesman Patrick Dilger, “It appears that she took a number of courses during four semesters” but never graduated.

On Oct. 1, 2009, Martineau bought a house at 211 Lloyd St. in the Fair Haven neighborhood, according to land records.

She didn’t really buy it, according to the feds.

According to the indictment in the case, an appraiser first falsely issued a report on Sept. 18 that “the property had been ‘totally gutted’ and ‘totally rehabilitated.’”

On Oct. 1 a former state representative, Morris Olmer, conducted the closing. He had given up his law license amid allegations of impropriety. He conducted the closing as a “notary public. ” (Olmer has previously told the Independent he didn’t break any laws.)

According to the indictment, the closing “was completed on the basis of fraudulent documentation, including the loan application submitted to the lender ... for straw buyer ‘A.M.’”

U.S. Attorney David Fein elaborated on the transaction at a June 17 press conference about the arrests. The straw buyer never even received the keys to the house she was allegedly buying and moving in to, Fein claimed. Rather, she received “$10,000 in a black plastic trash bag” and went on her way.

Paul Bass Photo Land records reveal “A.M.” to be Martineau. They list her home address as an apartment complex called Crestview in a working-class section of West Haven. A visit there found her name still listed in the complex directory. No one answered a knock on her apartment door. A next-door neighbor said she believes Martineau moved out last month and new tenants, “an older man and her daughter,” have moved in. Martineau “was working a lot,” the neighbor said.

Records reveal Martineau signed papers to buy 117 Lloyd St. from an active New Haven slum landlord named Marshall Asmar, whose role in the alleged-scam case has also remained out of the spotlight. (Read about that here.) Martineau allegedly “paid” Asmar $160,000 for the property, according to land records; Asmar had bought it from Deutsche Bank the previous December for just $16,000. Martineau then allegedly “obtained” a $157,102 mortgage on the property from Franklin American Mortgage Co. of Franklin, Tennessee.

The federal indictment alleges that the loan application for 117 Lloyd “indicated that A.M. [Martineau] worked at ‘Home Catering Restaurant, LLC,’ and that A.M. would occupy the property as A.M.‘s primary residence.”

A visit to the property revealed that tenants have never seen or heard of Martineau; they paid the rent to someone else. Also, there was no sign of the “total” gut-rehab claimed on the appraisal. The third floor lacks electricity; the basement is a fire trap. (Read about that part-way through this story.)

As for Home Catering Restaurant, LLC, a filing with the Office of the Secretary of the State lists a Berlin, Connecticut, address. A phone number once associated with the business is no longer is service. The principal listed for the business is Jo’mell Thomas.

Alicia Martineau’s name shows up in another, similar transaction with Marshall Asmar, on the exact same day as the Lloyd Street sale. Land records show her “purchasing” a house from him at 44 West St. in a transaction handled by Olmer. That alleged sale price, too, was for a putative $160,000, the basis for another $157,102 mortgage from Franklin American. A group of people hanging out in front of the rundown West Street house one night last week said they hadn’t heard of Asmar or Martineau; one said he pays rent to a man from New York. (The group was visibly intoxicated and uninterested in talking.)

Why?

Why would risk getting arrested by putting her name on an allegedly false transaction—and ruin her credit by having her name on mortgages intended to go sour?

Martineau’s “representative”‘s explanation: She was in over her head, didn’t know what she was doing.

That might provide part of the answer to another question: Why didn’t the feds charge her with a crime?

So said Jeffrey Meyer, a Quinnipiac University associate law professor who prosecuted white-collar criminal cases from 2000-2004 as a new Haven-based assistant U.S. attorney.

“It’s very unlikely” that the feds will ever charge her with a crime in the case if they haven’t already, Meyer said.

It’s possible she’s cooperating with the government as a witness in the case and received immunity or a plea deal, Meyer said.

It’s also possible that prosecutors simply worry they couldn’t convince a jury to convict her. Juries tend to come down harder on people in a “sophisticated market position,” he said, people who know how the market works. A young “low-income person” with no background in real estate who says she trusted more sophisticated scammers could very well “not be seen as blameworthy by a jury,” Meyer said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office has declined further comment on the case as the investigation continues.

Martineau’s “representative” was asked why Martineau is frightened—whether the feds could protect her from retaliation.

“You’re a reporter,” he responded. “You know the government doesn’t take care of anybody.”

Comments

posted by: Cedarhillresident on July 16, 2010 12:58pm

where can we get the list of the 35 propertys?

posted by: Ned on July 16, 2010 3:30pm

Vision Appraisal information 211 Lloyd St. -

MARTINEAU ALICIA
Sale Date 11/17/2009
Sale Price $160,000

ASMAR MARSHALL A
Sale Date 9/9/2009
Sale Price $16,000

DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY *
Sale Date 9/20/2007
Sale Price $0

CHAVEZ SEBASTIAN
Sale Date 9/14/2005
Sale Price $205,000

LUCIANO MARILYN & SANCHEZ JOSE
Sale Date 8/23/2004
Sale Price $268,000

Also in the seemingly weird sales history sweepstakes:
207 Lloyd St.
148 Lloyd St.
147 LLoyd St.
225 Lloyd St. (warning - involves “FairHaven Development Corporation”)
I’m going to take a shower now…

posted by: Somewhere in CT (maybe New Haven, maybe not) on July 16, 2010 9:37pm

211 Floyd has had many owners since 2004. Someone got really stiffed. I won’t print names and prices but they can be found at

http://www.visionappraisal.com

You have to register a login to see New Haven.

posted by: Somewhere in CT (maybe New Haven, maybe not) on July 16, 2010 9:40pm

View This Property ASMAR MARSHALL 187 FRANK ST
View This Property ASMAR MARSHALL 120 ADELINE ST
View This Property ASMAR MARSHALL 72 ADELINE ST
View This Property ASMAR MARSHALL 36 TOWNSEND ST
View This Property ASMAR MARSHALL A 44 WEST ST

posted by: myhood on July 16, 2010 10:02pm

Nice job Paul Bass. The young lady is probably scared to death and you go and blast her picture and insinuate that she is talking to the feds. I hope nothing happens to her because of your stupid insensitivity. With friends like you….

posted by: Morris Cove Mom on July 17, 2010 2:52pm

23 is old enough to know that accepting a trash bag full of money is WRONG. And illegal. And unethical.

I cannot feel bad for this woman, and I hope she turns herself in as soon as possible. ...

posted by: linda on July 17, 2010 3:03pm

Wait a minute,I got all confused here.That supposed to be a white-color crimes,right?.How in the world something could happen to Martineau ,even(and especially)if she is talking to the feds?Are there any obvious ties to an other criminal activity exists?

posted by: cedarhillresident on July 18, 2010 8:13am

my hood

We believe the same thing happened in my area on Cedar Hill Ave. in 2006 Maybe not the same group of people. How scared do you think the homeowners in that area who’s property taxes where tripled because of the purchases that inflated the value of property artificially. This did not just hurt a bank it hurt all the poor home owners and renters who barley get by, but get to pay the inflated increase because of the greed of these people actions! WHOLE COMMUNITY’S ARE PAYING THE PRICE! Blue collar works who now can not afford there dreams because of this!

posted by: Concerned Citizen on July 18, 2010 1:37pm

Let’s not kid ourselves; this woman is a college graduate; she can read and write and ask questions. This claim about her age and her innocence is simply hogwash. I doubt that she would take up $10,000 of her money and hand it to someone who was not entitled to, or did not merit getting $10K. She took $10K that she knows she did not work for and was not entitled to, and she walked away with it! Why shouldn’t her picture be shown?

Had she been some poor single mother with four kids and no roof over her head, we would want her picture shown, and we would want answers. Why isn’t anyone asking why Jo’Mell Thomas’ picture is being shown?

From the record Ms. Alicia Martineau has been involved in more than one such scheme; she knew it was not legitimate because she was NOT buying the house at this or any other address. What entitled her to getting $10K?! ...

The fact that the govt or whomever is running these schemes has sloppy accounting or record-keeping does not mean people should be allowed to commit crimes and get away with it. In the long run we all pay for it. It is a fallacy to say that white-collar crimes do not cost us; they do, Lock them all up.

According to the records, Marshall Asmar and Alicia Martineau have done business before; how much did she walk away with then? Why didn’t she complain of her innocence then? Now that she has been caught she is the victim! Hardly…. I hope that the U.S. Attorney’s Office will do its job. Lock her up!

posted by: myhood on July 19, 2010 10:39am

So now all of you are judge and jury? ... It was wrong to post her picture after stating that she was afraid and hiding. I know it , you know it, and Paul Bass knows it. Since when did the NHI become the National Enquirer? This is something you would expect from the Register, including the responses.

posted by: mikepc45 on July 19, 2010 11:12am

I spent 15 years in the mortgage business. All who signed documents, all who participated, all who profited are culpable.
... The recent reform on banking just passed does not contain any reform on Fannie and Freddie. Why, I don’t know why, just kidding I know why.The community reinvestment needs to be repealed, it has caused untold financial misery and waste.

posted by: Cedarhillresident on July 19, 2010 12:40pm

My hood????? I am lost on your comment. T… To what degree of guilty she is we do not know, but her actions have cost that whole area.

Are you understand the cause and effect that this scam had on the community’s that it happened in. The fact that the assessments of ALL surrounding homes where based on this OVER PRICED sales and now all property’s in that area are accessed for more than they are worth…and this means…property taxes are higher in that area and rents are higher in that area because of THIS SCAM and others like it.
...

But with that said if it was my kid…(about the same age) that was that stupid to have thought you could get something for nothing I would be feeling the same way you have presented your feelings. But if it was my kid I would make her rat the bastards out! Which it appears to be what she is doing. So the mother in me does feel for her a little but again if we all broke the rules where would we be?

posted by: sam on July 19, 2010 10:50pm

if i take one bag of money i’ll another.we may have been working for the feds from the beginning. so it looks good to have her face out there.

posted by: linda on July 20, 2010 9:59am

Here I go again.A former state representative,a rabbi,a West Haven police commissioner,an Irish man of the year are going to do retaliation?How?Either this Jo`mell Thomas and “myhood” knows more than they can tell or the girl just ashamed,not scared"to death”....

posted by: Chris Gray on July 21, 2010 1:43am

Gee, as an actor in my thirties I might’ve made $150 bucks a week as a dead body in the curtain call of Arsenic & Old Lace at the Shubert (got to wear Abe Vigoda’a hat from when he did the show on Broadway) and in my twenties I only made about $35 in a show we did at a club full of computer programmers in Momauguin.

$10,000? If I got that in a plastic bag for an acting job, I might suspect I was mixed up in something criminal.

With her name involved in criminal proceedings, it might have been good advice for her “friends and family” to suggest she take down her Facebook page, where anyone can see one’s photo once they know her name - which she entered onto public documents.

Meanwhile, whatever name she might use in the future, I personally am glad to know whom to look out for.

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