Dozens of residents in Hazleton are seeking for help after being scammed by a real estate agent who was at the same time their community leader. They all bought their houses from Ignacio Beato, who turned out to be selling homes with fraudulent deeds.
The Greater Hazleton Real Estate Association says there are about 50 complaints against Beato, a licensed real estate agent.
One of the victims is Felix Cabrera, who discovered that the house he thought to be his and has been his home for more than a year now is not really his. A letter from a mortgage company called Nationstar was received by Cabrera, with the letter stating that he only had a month before eviction. "All I want is to keep my house, the one that I thought is my house, and I want justice," said Cabrera.
Another victim of the property fraud, Gregorio Rosario and his family, was interviewed by Newswatch 16. Rosario's uncle, Jose Santos, was the one who introduced Beato to his nephew. "My nephew, he wanted to buy a new house and make the American Dream. Now everything is gone because all that paperwork was fake," said Santos.
Erika Suarez was also a victim of Beato. She says Beato forged her checks and cashed them. Now she's out about $27,000. "How can I trust anybody right now, to be honest with you? There's no back-up for this? How do I know the next person won't come around and do this?" said Suarez.
There is no formal complaint filed yet to the state police against Beato, but they are considering him as a person of interest. Up until now, Beato is nowhere to be found.
Real Estate Associations are warning those who are planning to buy a new home to make sure that their transactions are legal, by using traceable means of payment like bank notes. If the deal is too good to be true, or one of those "if you pay cash now, I'll give you a discount" kind of a deal, then it is wise to demand documentation of property ownership.
