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August 20, 2001
© Copyright 2001, IRED.com, Inc.
Real Estate Swindler Uses Fake 'HUD'
Rudy Lavanture, 29, of Jersey City, New Jersey, has been charged with defrauding nine investors out of more than $1 million in a scheme that supposedly involved investments in 'HUD' properties.
Lavanture placed advertisements in the New York Times, which promised returns in the 30 to 70 percent range for investors. He told them he was a real estate broker representing the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, known as HUD, and that he would use the agency for a list of homes that could be bought, renovated, and sold at a huge profit.
Lavanture, who pleaded not guilty to grand larceny and fraud in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, set up a fake company, named HUD, so he could cash checks that he had the investors make payable to HUD.
Pat Rioux
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