September 23rd, 2010, 8:02

A former Madison County real estate investor convicted June 9 of three counts of financial institution fraud and one count of conspiracy will serve 35 months in federal prison, five years on supervised release and pay $433,907.76 in restitution. Earline Y. Rawls, 37, the alleged owner of Heavenly Homes LLC, was sentenced in U.S. District Court earlier this month. A federal grand jury had indicted her on one count of conspiracy to commit financial institution fraud and six counts of bank fraud. According to the indictment, Rawls devised a scheme that started in August 2006 and continued via March 2007, involving the purchase of four residential properties in Madison and Hinds counties. Rawls provided false information to lenders to secure loan approvals. The indictment stated the conspiracy netted more than $1 million in loans from Jan. 1, 2006, through Nov. 20, 2006, using fraudulent documents indicating business revenue of $1.3 million and a profit of $271,530. “Without aggressive federal investigators working on this case and other people, Earline Rawls may have escaped justice,” Madison/Rankin County District Attorney Michael Guest stated in a news release. Source: Clarion Ledger News

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September 23rd, 2010, 8:01

William Foster, convicted for his component inside a $22 million real estate investment fraud, was sentenced to three many years in prison. Foster, 70, was one of three men convicted of cheating traders inside a network of companies named Cobalt, which claimed to have interests in residential actual estate developments all through the U.S. The sentence came less than three months following one of Foster’s codefendants was sentenced to 85 many years. U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood in New York, who sentenced each men, said she rejected guidelines that known as for a life sentence for Foster because of his poor health and his lower level of criminal responsibility compared with the other defendants. “Mr. Foster, everyone agrees, had a much lesser role than his two co-conspirators,” Wood stated. Foster, Irving Stitsky and Mark Shapiro were convicted by a jury following a three-week trial that ended in November. Each was found guilty of two counts of securities fraud, one of mail fraud, one of wire fraud and one of conspiracy. According to the government, the males defrauded much more than 250 investors by inventing a false history for Cobalt; failing to disclose that the business was owned and controlled by Stitsky and Shapiro, who had been convicted felons; and misstating Cobalt’s property pursuits. Stitsky was sentenced in July to 85 many years in jail following Wood called him an “inveterate con man.” Shapiro is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 14. $22 Million Restitution Additionally to the three years in jail, Wooden sentenced Foster to three years’ probation and ordered him to pay $22 million in restitution to the victims of the fraud. She declined Foster’s request to stay free while he appeals the conviction. Lawrence Gerzog, one of Foster’s defense attorneys, tried to persuade Wooden to spare his client jail time. “It breaks my heart that anyone would believe that I entered into this intending to defraud anyone of any money,” Foster, who has chronic obstructive pulmonary illness and utilized an oxygen canister, informed the decide. “I wish there was some thing I could do about it. I'm heartbroken over it.” David Rubenstein, who stated he lost $25,000 within the fraud, asked Wooden to sentence Foster towards the maximum prison term. “My wife left me due to this,” Rubenstein told Wood. “This was like the straw that broke the camel’s back.” The case is U.S. v. Shapiro, 06-cr-357, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan)! Source: Bloomberg News

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September 23rd, 2010, 8:00

Workplace Charity Dynamics leased 6,549 square feet at 3420 Executive Center Drive. Kathy Carbonetti of Jones Lang LaSalle and Kristi Svec Simmons of Aquila Commercial LLC represented the tenant. Anne Swift of Reside Oak Gottesman represented the tenant. Green Bank leased 4,490 sq. feet at Hartland Plaza, 1717 W. Sixth St. Sherry Sanchez and Travis Waldrop of NAI REOC represented the tenant. Robert Shore, Chad Barrett and Mike Murphy of Aquila Industrial represented the landlord. Walters Bay & Co. leased 4,798 sq. feet at River Place V, 6500 River Place Blvd. Don Cox of Don Cox Co. represented the tenant. Troy Holme of CB Richard Ellis represented the landlord. Fletcher Farley leased 3,525 square feet at Hartland Plaza, 1717 W. Sixth St. Kathy Carbonetti and Liz Tucker of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant. Robert Shore, Chad Barrett and Mike Murphy of Aquila Commercial represented the landlord. Coats Rose expanded its lease by 3,180 square feet at Hartland Plaza, 1717 W. Sixth St. Robert Shore, Chad Barrett and Mike Murphy of Aquila Commercial represented the landlord. Square 1 Bank leased 2,254 square ft at Barton Oaks Plaza Building II, 901 S. MoPac Blvd. (Loop 1). Diana Holford of Jones Lang LaSalle represented the tenant. Richard Paddock of HPI Real Estates Inc. represented the landlord. Retail Ethan Allen Design Center leased 22,908 square ft at 2817 W. Anderson Lane for its new showroom. Lance Morris of the Weitzman Group represented both the landlord and tenant. Oak Haven Massage leased 6,230 square ft at Pecan Park Plaza, 12809 N. RM 620. David Simmonds of Retail Solutions represented the landlord. La Hacienda Mexican Restaurant leased 5,366 sq. ft at Cypress Creek Village, 1525 Cypress Creek Road, Cedar Park. Matt Delahoussaye of Retail Solutions represented the landlord. Gallagher's Pharmacy leased 1,659 sq. ft at 1520 Sun City Blvd., Georgetown. Alan Rust of Retail Solutions represented the landlord. Peter Von Wupperfeld of the Austin Co. represented the tenant. Industrial Ryland Homes leased 7,043 square feet at 1101 Arrow Point Drive, Cedar Park. Brian Butterfield, Bob Bantly and Lauren Spaeth of Grubb & Ellis represented the tenant. Tom Heaton of Tom Heaton Properties represented the landlord. Source: Statesman News

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September 23rd, 2010, 7:55

Confronted by a large group of actual estate agents, the Manhattan Seaside City Council has shelved a proposal that would have forced person agents to pay much more in taxes. The crowd erupted into loud applause Tuesday night when council members unanimously voted to turn aside the revenue-generating recommendation from the city's Finance Department. "The City Council did the proper thing," said David Kissinger, director of governmental affairs for the South Bay Association of Realtors. "The city does not have the legal authority or the administrative authority to administer this tax." The tax would have needed agents in town to share a portion of their commissions for a business license. When notices with the proposal were sent out towards the city's nearly 500 brokers in April, the real estate neighborhood erupted in opposition Old Country House Plans. Because then, agents have argued that the charge - a $204 base tax for your initial $59,800 of annual gross receipts and another $1.88 for each $1,000 in additional receipts - would unfairly target the city's struggling real property industry and was, in effect, a double tax. In response towards the outcry, council members questioned why such a licensing charge would be proposed by metropolis employees amid a down housing market. According to figures not too long ago provided by the South Bay Association of Realtors, median prices of Manhattan Beach homes sold in July were down $235,000 from two years prior. Additionally, home sales have remained relatively flat. "Businesses don't need to get hit anymore right now," Councilwoman Portia Cohen stated. "They require a break." Metropolis employees members have argued that since real estate brokers in Manhattan Beach are viewed as independent contractors, in component because they pay nearby and state taxes as self-employed workers, they should be taxed by the metropolis accordingly. But under Manhattan Beach's Municipal Code, guidelines for taxation of brokers are vague and it was never created clear why the tax was just not too long ago proposed. Bruce Moe, the city's finance director, and other city employees customers said the tax is needed to generate needed revenue and promote equity and fairness across the city's company community. "People take a look at this as a brand new tax. It is not," Moe said. "It exists on our books, but we have chosen not to enforce it." The tax would generate a minimum of $20,468 annually for your city, in accordance to documents. In Hermosa Beach and Redondo Seaside, brokerage companies pay a single company tax based on the quantity of brokers they oversee. In Torrance, agents and brokerage companies are each taxed a flat fee, regardless of overall receipts. Agents working in Manhattan Beach questioned the legality with the proposed tax simply because brokerage firms, which represent person brokers during house and property product sales, already pay company license taxes. Actual estate brokers are required to belong to brokerage companies to close real property transactions and currently spend fees to those firms for each home or house sale. An additional charge for your metropolis, agents have argued, would be a needless burden on the nearby real property business. "It's wrong," said Candice Carpenter, a local actual estate agent, with the proposed license charge. "We drive the economy when it is great and we're the ones hardest hit when it is down. This would just improve the price of performing company for everyone." Source: Daily Breeze News

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