DATE: January 2005 – February 2007ARRESTED: Yvonne Forbes, 42, of 106 Cedar Crest Court
CHARGES: Scheming to defraud over $50,000
Deputies say that an East Naples woman used her resources as a licensed real estate agent to steal money from two Lee County women.
Forbes approached Yvonne Rose of Lehigh Acres about splitting the cost of a property in Golden Gate Estates valued at $120K. Rose gave $60K to Forbes in June 2006 for her share of the property. Forbes gave Rose a fake Quitclaim Deed indicating Rose’s ownership.
Deputies located the actual owner of the property and learned that he had never sold the property to Forbes.
Forbes then convinced Rose to refinance her home and use the money to purchase a duplex in Golden Gate in August 2006. At the closing, Forbes asked Rose to sign all documents without asking any questions. Forbes told the title company to wire more than $24K to a holder of a mortgage to an unrelated property.
Another $75K, that Rose believed was going to be held in escrow to purchase the duplex, was wired into Forbes’ personal account.
Forbes used the money from the refinancing to pay off an outstanding mortgage instead of purchasing the duplex.
Juliet Washington of Estero gave Forbes $25K to purchase a property in Lehigh Acres in March 2005. Forbes purchased the property in her name instead of Washington’s and then resold it to someone else for $35K. She also gave Washington a fake Quitclaim Deed indicating her ownership of the property.
Washington also gave $13K for other property investments in January 2005, but Forbes directed the money into her personal account and provided another fake deed.
Deputies found Forbes at her home Monday morning.
