By Joel Gilbert—the investigative journalist who exposed the Letitia James Files.
New York Attorney General Letitia James’s mortgage fraud problems just got even bigger, and may now include the possible breaking of campaign disclosure laws.
Questions are now being raised about a foreclosure sale in December 2008 that involved James as a purchaser. Documents show her name appearing on the “Final Foreclosure Accounting” for the purchase of a single-family home at 21 Peters Street in Martinsville, Virginia.
Two other names appear on the same document as additional purchasers, Johnsie Finney and Philip Finney. Interestingly, James’s first named is misspelled as “Letitua.” One has to wonder whether this misspelling was intended to make the transaction harder to track. At the time, James was serving on the New York City Council.
Letitia James purchased the 21 Peters Street property with the Finneys at a foreclosure auction sale where full payment was required immediately. The Finneys had been the previous owners of 21 Peters Street, and it was their mortgage that had been foreclosed on by Wells Fargo Bank.
The Finneys, having lost their home, likely recruited Letitia James to buy it back from the bank. Letitia James’s mother was from Martinsville. The Finneys may have been friends, former neighbors, or even relatives.
Curiously, however, Letitia James’s name does not appear on the new deed – the “Substitute Trustee’s Deed” – created just three weeks after the foreclosure in January 2009. Only the Finneys are listed as the new owners. Why not “Letitua James”?
This sleight of hand would seem to violate a Virginia law that requires all foreclosure purchasers to appear on a new deed unless a legal transaction has taken place between them. Letitia James’s name does not appear on any recorded title either.
There is no record of Letitia James selling her interest in the property to her co-purchasers, the Finneys. This irregularity also raises serious ethical and legal concerns regarding asset disclosure, campaign finance transparency, and possible fraud.
Under Virginia Code §55.1-321 and §55.1-322, a foreclosed property is conveyed by a substitute trustee to the grantee (purchaser) named on the Substitute Trustee’s Deed. While there is no statutory requirement that a purchaser must appear in the deed immediately, the title must lawfully vest for purchasers to assert ownership.
Here is the Foreclosure Final Accounting final document.
As a candidate and public official, James was also subject to NYC Campaign Finance Board Rules (e.g., CFB Rule 1-04 and 3-03) and New York State Public Officers Law Article 4 (a financial disclosures law). Failure to disclose a material asset or a beneficial interest in a property may constitute a violation of campaign finance reporting obligations and a false filing under sworn ethics declarations.
If James directed the purchase of the 21 Peter Street property, paid for it and then intentionally omitted her ownership from all her campaign filings, she may be vulnerable to investigation under Federal mail/wire fraud statutes (18 U.S.C. § 1341, § 1343), Virginia false pretenses and concealment laws (e.g., VA Code § 18.2-178), and Ethics law violations and disciplinary proceedings.
A review of Letitia James’s 2013 and 2017 NYC Campaign Finance Board audits shows no disclosure of the Virginia property, either as an asset, in-kind contribution, or beneficial interest.
Here is a copy of the Substitute Trustee’s Deed.
Letitia James’s failure to disclose her purchase of the 21 Peters Street property in her campaign and ethics filings is potentially actionable. To this day she may have a hidden ownership interest.
Although the home is modest, James’s willingness to flout the law fits a pattern she established in New York State. “No one is above the law,” she reminded us in her Javert-like pursuit of President Trump on alleged loan irregularities, and that “no one” includes Attorney General James.
At the least, Letitia James should be investigated for potential violations of NY Public Officers Law Article 4 to determine whether her omission of her foreclosure property purchase and interest constitutes campaign finance or ethics violations.
Joel Gilbert, is a Los Angeles-based film producer, and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
The post NEW EVIDENCE AGAINST NY AG: Letitia James’s Fishy Virginia Foreclosure Purchase in Martinsville Warrants Separate Investigation appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.