Down here in South Florida there is an investigation into fraud that recently was discovered. The company in question is Sky Development Group and spans the state of Florida and possibly goes beyond. The details of the elaborate scheme are still being discovered and more and more victims are being added to the list almost daily it seems.
So what happened? Well the allegations are coming forth as are the details and what is unknown is whether or not the owners of the company had been planning this for a while or was it a last minute effort to deal with the cooling real estate market. One thing that has become clear is that their tactics folled retirees, seasoned real estate agents and big companies.
The allegations coming forth claim Sky Development Group forged deeds and sold more than $1 million worth of property in the Citrus Springs development that it never owned (Citrus County). Additionally, they took millions of dollars for land without turning over the property to the buyers. They referred buyers to a fake title company owned by Natalia Wolf, one of the owners of SDG, and she closed the land deals. SDG also took money for new homes that never were finished and some were never started.
One Miami real estate agent was quoted as saying that everyone believed them and bought their scheme. This agent had personally sold over $500,000 of SDG property and even bought a lot for himself.
The owner of the building housing their office reported that SDG had not paid its nearly $9,700 monthly rent since June and the Citrus Springs community center office was abruptly vacated in August.
SDG was based in North Miami (you know, one of the areas leading fraud lists), but had projects spread throughout the state and possibly in Texas and Arkansas. They are believed to have started projects in St. Augustine and Palm Coast.
The victims list is too numerous and sad to list here, but some details need to be shown. The title company used was All Title and Trust, which dissolved in August. That company was where the monies were sent and are now missing. There is no record of the company even existing, according to Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, which licenses all title companies in Florida. This shows you need to at least do a license search with your state's issuer to confirm the company is licensed.
Their scheme and their manners were so good, they even fooled the police. One victim called police who then interviewed Natalia Wolf in Septmeber and found no evidence of illegal activity. Natalia was very professional and very reserved during the interview. After the victim's refund check bounced, the return to the office was met with unlocked doors leading to an empty office, as was the home the Wolf's lived in.
How vast was their scheme. It is unsure as more and more victims are showing up, but the Citrus County records show SDG owns 345 parcels assessed at over $9 million, but it is unknown if the deeds are legitimate at this time.
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