Miami assistant fire chief accused of fraud

Article Courtesy of The Miami Herald

By Charles Rabin

Published February 25, 2011

  

Miami's highest-ranking female firefighter has been charged, along with four others, by a federal grand jury with taking part in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme in which prosecutors say she acted as a straw buyer in the purchase of two luxury Aventura condominiums.
  
According to the indictment, Veldora Arthur, 45, an assistant fire chief in charge of quality control and payroll, knowingly used her name and credit history in 2006 to purchase a pair of million-dollar luxury condominiums at Aventura's exclusive Hidden Bay, a development that boasts 24 acres of secluded waterfront property with an adjoining 66-slip marina. The indictment says Arthur received a payoff, yet had no intention of living at the properties, which eventually went into foreclosure.
  
The indictment does not say how much she was paid. Arthur is facing a maximum of 20 years in prison for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud. Her attorney, Brian Bieber, said Arthur was released after she posted $125,000. Her arraignment is set for Thursday.
   
Miami Fire Department spokesman Ignatius Carroll said Arthur will continue in her job until the case plays out in court. The 25-year veteran earns about $184,000 a year in salary, and has a compensation package with benefits of close to $300,000 a year.
  
"Our stance is this is a personal matter that has nothing to do with her role as a fire chief. So right now she has to report to work. She's innocent until proven guilty," said Carroll. 
  
Arthur's attorneys dispute the charges, saying their client actually went to the federal authorities not long after the 2006 purchases took place, and after a friend noticed the paperwork said she was making $123,000 a month, not a year.
  
Bieber called his client "a victim" who "unfortunately associated herself with people who were committing fraud."
   
"She was the one who brought it to their attention," said Larry Handfield, another attorney representing Arthur. "There's no disputing that." Still, early last summer federal agents knocked on her door and began questioning Arthur.
   
The early February indictment also names Neil Fagan, Earl Silas Jr., Pamela Johnson and Patrick L. Brinson as co-conspirators. It contends that Fagan, a Miami real estate broker, would identify properties and call in the other four to act as straw buyers, who, "in exchange for a fee, allowed their identities and credit information to be used in false and fraudulent mortgage loan applications. … The straw buyers posed as the true purchasers of the properties and as the individuals who would be making the payments on the mortgage loans.''
  
All five are charged with mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud, and face maximum 20-year sentences. The indictment alleges documents from a settlement agent in Margate were sent by DHL or Federal Express to various mortgage holders in Jacksonville, Tampa, Deerfield Beach and even Michigan. The six Hidden Bay properties listed in the indictment all went into foreclosure.
  
Arthur, who lives in Weston, made history in 1986 when she became the city's first black female firefighter. Last October, she was again lauded during a ceremony at the firefighters union hall when Miami Fire Chief Maurice Kemp named her assistant chief, the first woman to attain the post in the department's 115-year history.

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