Sometimes reality is more bizarre than fiction. A mortgage fraud ring of high priced, East end Long Island homes was busted by the Suffolk County DA yesterday. The fraud was concocted at Arena Studios, a fetish and bondage bar in Manhattan, and brought in scammers from former politicians to world famous dominatrix’s.
The fraud was not that unique besides the high price of the homes, but the cast of characters was right out of a Donald Westlake murder mystery caper.
Prosecutors said the fake borrowers, or straw buyers, were recruited by a Manhattan couple, Donald MacPherson, 65, and Carrie Coakley, 38, from among the clientele of their Manhattan sexual fetish fantasy business, Arena Studios. Coakley’s work as a dominatrix was featured in the 1998 documentary “Whipped.”
According to Arena Studio’s Web site, the Broome Street company provides space for dominatrixes to meet clients, boasts a “beautifully decorated and fully equipped private dungeon,” and, among other items, rents out “medieval torture” implements, bondage furniture and three kinds of whips.
In return for payments of $5,000 to $10,000, clients of the dungeon and others posed on paper as buyers of expensive homes all over the Town of Southampton, Spota said. The clients’ income and employment information were overstated so they would qualify for the millions of dollars in loans needed to buy the properties, Spota said. via Newsday.com.
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Tom
I guess it would be hard to say NO to Carrie when she has her whip in hand! Maybe a new sales technique to get nervous buyers off the fence.
Good writing these great posts!
Arn
Interesting…..I think I might have seen everything now
This is hilarious. Now we have officially seen every type of character involved in the meltdown of the real estate industry.
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