As I’ve written here before, I have been representing three families victimized by convicted felon, Allen Seymour, in a brazen complex real estate forgery scam where he forged deeds and sold properties out from under owners. I’m happy to report that the Worcester Superior Court just sentenced Seymour to a prison term of 3-5 years at MCI-Cedar Junction. This sentence was for his violation of the terms of his probation from his first criminal conviction in a similar scam in 2010. He remains under indictment for 22 counts of forgery, larceny and money laundering in the most recent case involving my clients. We expect that he will receive another substantial prison term once that case goes to trial later this year.
As reported by the Worcester Telegram, Worcester Superior Court Justice Janet Kenton-Walker sentenced Seymour, 52, to 3-5 years in state prison, with 5 years of probation to follow, and also ordered to pay $750,000 in restitution and was prohibited from working in the real estate industry. Assistant Attorney General Edward Beagan had asked Judge Kenton-Walker to sentence Seymour to 6 years in state prison on the violation. He further asked the judge to keep Mr. Seymour on probation on one of the charges and allow the $750,000 restitution order to remain in place.
I have filed three civil actions in Middlesex Superior Court, seeking to quiet title and restore ownership to the victims. The cases are ongoing.
Attorney General Healy Announces Indictments Against Allen Seymour and Ex-Wife
As I’ve written here before, I have been representing three families victimized by convicted felon, Allen Seymour, in a brazen complex real estate forgery scam. As a result of the courageous testimony from my clients, I’m happy to report that a statewide Grand Jury has just handed down a 22 count indictment against Seymour on charges of forgery, uttering, larceny, and money laundering. Seymour’s ex-wife, Tina Seymour, was also charged with conspiracy to commit forgery.
Seymour, who used the alias “Richard Chase,” targeted elderly and unsophisticated homeowners. He used forged deeds and fake notary stamps to sell their properties out from under them, flipping them to wealthy investors, and pocketing the cash. Seymour targeted properties in Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville. As claimed in my lawsuits, Seymour also worked with a group of accomplices including Newton police lieutenant, Francis Foley III, who was not indicted but remains under investigation and on paid leave from the force.
Allen Seymour fled the state and was apprehended in South Carolina in May, and is currently being held without bail pending probation surrender hearing scheduled for a later date. He will appear in Worcester Superior Court on Jan. 7, 2019 for a hearing regarding his probation surrender. Tina Seymour will be arraigned in Hampden Superior Court at a later date.
I have filed three civil actions in Middlesex Superior Court, seeking to quiet title and restore ownership to the victims. The cases are ongoing.
First American Title Company has issued a statewide Fraud Agent Alert concerning this scheme.
Convicted Felon, Allen Seymour of Oxford, MA Named Again In Forgery Lawsuit
As a Special Attorney General Grand Jury hears evidence of a sophisticated real estate fraud conspiracy orchestrated by convicted felon, Allen Seymour, and his alleged accomplices, my firm has filed the third lawsuit for another victim of this predatory scam. The suit, filed in Middlesex Superior Court on behalf of two Somerville homeowners, alleges that Seymour approached them with a bogus reverse mortgage plan then forged two quitclaim deeds purporting to sell their home out from under them, flipping it to well known Boston real estate investors. One of the deeds was purportedly signed by a dead woman, and the other may have been stamped with a stolen notary public seal.
As a result of the lawsuits filed by my office and cooperation with the Attorney General’s office, Seymour was recently arrested in South Carolina, and was arraigned in Brookline District Court on June 18, with bail set at $2.5 Million. Seymour’s scheme is to approach elderly or naive homeowners who are in foreclosure, and offer them a “foreclosure rescue” loan or a bogus reverse mortgage. Using the alias “Richard Chase” to hide his true identity, Seymour persuades the homeowner to sign legal paperwork, then uses forged deeds and purchase contracts to flip the properties to investors, pocketing the money. The two other lawsuits involve properties in Brookline and Cambridge, where Seymour and his associates (one allegedly including a Newton Police officer) have allegedly absconded with millions of dollars in sale proceeds. We are aware of several other transactions where Seymour and his partners were involved.
These cases are being discussed around the Greater Boston real estate bar, with several leading Massachusetts title insurance companies on the hook for insuring these fraudulent sales.
If you have any information concerning Mr. Seymour or any of these transaction, please email me confidentially at [email protected].
Cases Subject of Attorney General and FBI Investigation, Oxford Man Under Arrest
Over the last month, I’ve been representing the victims in two significant forgery lawsuits, the likes and brazenness of which I have not seen in 20 years of practicing law. The matters are now the subject of criminal charges by the Attorney General’s Office.
As alleged in the two lawsuits, Allen J. Seymour, of Oxford, Massachusetts, is the alleged mastermind behind a sophisticated forgery scheme to defraud property owners out of their ownership to their homes. In one of the schemes involving a Brookline property, Seymour, using an alias, approached my client with a foreclosure assistance plan, getting him to execute a mortgage payoff form with an unusual second signature page. Unbeknownst to my client, that signature page was then attached to a quitclaim deed to a straw-person (an individual known as Kayla Turner, also of Oxford, MA), and recorded with the Norfolk Registry of Deeds. The straw-person then purported to sell the deal to local investors, with the sale proceeds wired to a bank account controlled by Seymour and his associates.
In another case involving a Cambridge property, a deed was forged using a fake notary public stamp, then sold to investors who took out a $2 Million mortgage loan against the property. My client found out about the scam when a locksmith arrived at his house, attempting to drill out his front door lockset. As alleged in the lawsuit and shown by records kept by the Secretary of State’s Office, the straw entity, the Dudley Group, LLC, used in the Cambridge transaction was managed by a Francis Foley III, who is a Lieutenant in the Newton, Massachusetts Police Department.
This is not Allen Seymour’s first run in with the law. He pled guilty in 2009-10 to a slew of federal and state crimes stemming from a similar foreclosure and mortgage fraud scheme in the Worcester County area whereby he defrauded homeowners out of millions of dollars. Seymour was arrested at a Florida airport in February 2008 with $1.37 million in cash hidden in his luggage. He was sentenced to six years in prison.
As a result of the lawsuits filed by my office and cooperation with the Attorney General’s office, Seymour was recently arrested in South Carolina. Seymour was arraigned in Brookline District Court on June 18, with bail set at $2.5 Million. Forgery (also known as uttering) of a deed is a felony with a maximum state prison sentence of 10 years.
I have filed a civil action in both cases to quiet title to the property, asking the court to reverse the fraudulent transactions. Under the law, a deed procured by forgery conveys no title. The cases are complicated because there are many parties involved and there have been mortgages recorded against the properties which will need to be discharged.
Early estimates are that up to $1,500,000 in sale proceeds were taken in these fraudulent transactions. The investors who purchased the properties are also pursuing Seymour and his associates.
I was recently interviewed by Fox News 25 (see video below) on these cases which are sure to attract some local media attention. There are also reports of many more potential fraudulent deals that were pending. If you have any knowledge of these, please contact me at [email protected].
I will keep you updated with any important developments!
Richard D. Vetstein, Esq. is regarded as one of the leading real estate attorneys in Massachusetts. With 25 years in practice, he was voted a "Super Lawyer," a "Top Lawyer" by Boston Magazine and "Best of Metrowest." For Rich's professional biography, click here. If you are interested in hiring Rich or have a legal question, email or call him at [email protected] or 508-620-5352.
