Sarasota Mortgage Scammer becomes FBI informant

Real Estate Broker, Craig Adams the man behind some of the largest real estate deal in Sarasota, Florida has turned into the Federal Bureau of Investigations number one informant when it comes to mortgage fraud in Sarasota, Florida.

Court documents reveal that Mr. Adams was involved in a mortgage fraud scheme that involved over two million dollars in property values across the area and that he has implicated over thirty individuals. Officials expect more names to come as the depths of Mr. Adams crimes are revealed and believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Mr. Adams was the local man in the operation who had made his living by buying and selling residential homes and condominiums in Sarasota booming housing market. Mr. Adams himself is charismatic and extremely versed in numbers. Mr. Adams charismatic personality allowed him to entice individuals into willingly flipping properties. He promised wealth and for the most part delivered on his promises. The scheme was working until the market tanked.

Mr. Adams scheme involved the use of other individuals’ names that included his mother. He used the names of business associates, friends and acquaintances to purchase properties from him. The properties involved were appraised at inflated property values. The monies Mr. Adams obtained from the purchase and sale of the properties were used to purchase other properties and for personal expenses.

Mr. Adams has been known to say when running low on money that they should go buy a property. Mr. Adams scheme had one big flaw; the market tanked. He didn’t think about what might result three to four years in the future and never believed the housing market would take a fall. The market tanked and his Ponzi scheme unraveled.

Mr. Adams dealing are not uncommon in the Sarasota are and the Herald Tribune conducted a state wide study and found over fifty thousand properties were involved in flipping.

The properties that were involved in flipping have mostly ended up in foreclosure. Flipping for the most part doesn’t hurt the banks involved but it hurts everyone else because it increases the property values in areas involved leaving homeowners with mortgages higher than the value of the property and no equity to fall back on.