The Flimflam Plan
Dan Stockman of the The Journal Gazette in Fort Wayne, Ind., has produced a nifty investigation into some suspicious housing deals in his city. In "Which Price is Right?" Stockman identifies 124 transactions where the seller received one price and investors got loans for the houses based on prices that were sometimes twice as high. Stockman does a nice job explaining the impact of these complex deals: buyers with mortgages that they can't pay, leading to bankruptcies and boarded-up homes. The Journal Gazette's graphics also help tell the story clearly. Stockman was well ahead of police and prosecutors in investigating the scheme, tracing most of the suspicious deals back to one man. www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/16781854.htm