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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (315745)	12/15/2006 8:43:39 AM
From: RetiredNow	Respond to of 1573824

Good Lord. It almost makes me cry that this adminstration isn't doing anything to end our oil dependence. It's so DOABLE, with so LITTLE PAIN.

To: Road Walker who wrote (315745)	12/15/2006 8:50:28 AM
From: Jim McMannis	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1573824

The FBI and local authorities arrested two people Wednesday during a sting at a local title agency, part of a "red-hot mortgage fraud scheme" playing out across the country. tbo.com Anthony Capsouto, 36, a Nevada mortgage broker, and Muhammed Sekertekin, 29, an illegal immigrant from Turkey, were arrested during a settlement closing in Tampa, the Tampa Police Department said Thursday. The men were trying to obtain a fraudulent mortgage in Sekertekin's name on a home at 811 Golf Island Drive, Apollo Beach. The men wanted to inflate the recorded sales price of the house from $690,000 to $910,000. At closing, $210,000 was to be paid back to a company started last month by Sekertekin. At the closing, Capsouto insisted that the information about the $210,000 payoff be omitted from the settlement document, said Tampa police Detective Jim Bartoszak. That is a violation of state and federal law. Also a violation, Bartoszak said, was Capsouto insisting the addendum not be sent to the lender. The FBI, Tampa police and U.S. Secret Service videotaped and audiotaped the closing. The men were arrested at the settlement table. "We think they were going to default on the loan and run away with the money," Bartoszak said. "It's a great scam. How do you ruin the credit rating on a guy who's here illegally?" The unusual financial structure of this deal closely resembles recent sales reported in investigations by The Tampa Tribune, Bartoszak said. The stories led to investigations by state and federal authorities. The articles, Bartoszak said, were used to help law enforcement figure out how Capsouto and Sekertekin were working the deal. "Rarely do we get the opportunity to disrupt one of these kinds of deals before it happens." Bartoszak said. Law enforcement and real estate experts say these deals are sweeping the nation, and investigators fear the publicity of this case could disrupt investigations. "People could skip town and shred documents," Bartoszak said. Bartoszak said the lender, which he would not identify, contacted the FBI after discovering inconsistencies in Sekertekin's income statements. As in cases investigated by the newspaper, a real estate agent was asked to inflate the value of the property in the Multiple Listing Service, a database of home listings. The home languished on the market for 179 days at $690,000 with no offers. An addendum was included with the original sales contract stating that $210,000 was to go to Sekertekin's Las Vegas-based company, ENKA Consulting LLC. Bartoszak said the FBI has not interviewed the appraisal company that valued the home at the higher price that authorities think was inflated. Sekertekin owns properties in Arizona and California, where it appears the same financial arrangement was used, he said, adding the investigation is ongoing and could result in other arrests. Capsouto was released from Orient Road Jail on $15,000 bail. Sekertekin, who also faces immigration charges, remained in jail Thursday night.

To: Road Walker who wrote (315745)	12/19/2006 2:14:38 AM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1573824

Time for another news quiz: Which American state produces more wind-generated electricity than any other? Answer: Texas. Next question — this one you’ll never get: Which politician launched the Texas wind industry? Answer: Former Gov., now President, George W. Bush. Yes, there are many things that baffle me about President Bush, but none more than how the same man who initiated one of the most effective renewable energy programs in America, has presided over an administration that for six years has dragged its feet on alternative energy, used its regulatory powers to weaken efficiency standards for major appliances and stuck its head in the sand on global warming. Has he been cloned.......and the clone is in the White House?