Alleged real estate scam turns up new victims, long trail of cases

A News 12 investigation into an alleged real estate scam last week has turned up new possible victims and a long trail of legal cases against a Mount Vernon company.

News 12 Staff

Jan 9, 2019, 1:16 AM

Updated 1,941 days ago

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A News 12 investigation into an alleged real estate scam last week has turned up new possible victims and a long trail of legal cases against a Mount Vernon company.
 
Mary Rodriguez, of Poughkeepsie, said last week that the owners of Radio Real Estate - Dawn and Tim Smith -  swindled her out of $4,600.  She says they promised that they would get her a new place to live.    
 
Rodriguez says Smith assured that her money would refunded by Jan. 17th.
 
News 12's investigation reveals a long history of issues, with each case in the thousands.
 
Rose Armelline, of Yonkers, and her two adult children are days away from being homeless. Armelline claims it all started when she gave the real estate company $3,900 last summer.

MORE: Mount Vernon realty company accused of swindling multiple clients
 
After a partial refund check bounced, Rose was finally repaid $3,000 in small payments over the course of a few weeks.
"She had to wait for the next client to come in, gave her the cash before she could turn it over to me,” said Armelline.
 
News 12 even found a recent lawsuit filed with the state Supreme Court where the alleged victim was seeking $18,000 "stolen from me that should have been refunded in full."
 
News 12 says they looked for the Smiths at two addresses listed for the business in Mount Vernon, but they were vacant.


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