“Domestic terrorists” who believe the government is illegitimate are creating fraudulent documents as part of a scheme to sell vacant properties to unsuspecting victims, typically Hispanics with a language barrier, the Indiana Secretary of State warns.
Perpetrators of the scheme — who refer to themselves as “sovereign citizens” — identify abandoned homes and create false documents claiming they own the property. They then have the documents notarized and stamped with a gold seal from the Secretary of State’s office. After filing the documents with the county recorder’s office, the scammers can show them to prospective victims as “proof” they own the property they are selling.
On Friday, Shela Amos of Indianapolis was sentenced to 34 years in prison for defrauding victims using the vacant home sale scheme, but “others are waiting to pick up where she left off,” Secretary of State Connie Lawson warned. Source: www.in.gov.
