WHOOPS! What did we do?

Damn it looks like we stepped in a pile of $hit! Our cursory review of some recent home sales in a half mile radius of the Oak Avenue home has uncovered a hornets nest of trouble. Homes purchased at ridiculously high over inflated prices, the usual mortgage funny business and most interestingly a few transactions where the homes were flipped the same day the seller purchased them at six figure profits. Very bizarre, huh? I'm sure the Mortgage Fraud Task Force already knows about all this right? Certainly the State Attorneys Office is busy building cases against these guys right? Somehow I doubt it, at the very least there haven't been any arrests made against anyone involved in these transactions, from what we can see, the sellers, buyers, mortgage brokers, appraisers, title agents or any attorneys haven't been charged. Strange, very strange indeed.

I've been contacted by a few people asking me to retract what I've wrote regarding those homes, I wonder why? Seems like there's a few people with intestinal issues right now...

The week in review...

Another week down, let's see what we've uncovered...

1. Another angle on outing the "Victim".
2. Is there someone else interested in our story?
3. Fun in the Grove?!
4. YO! Where's my $2 million?!
5. Damn, these homes in the Grove are EXPENSIVE!
6. We're in home improvement mode!

We're barely scratching the surface and it keeps getting worse.

Saturday and the Straw Buyer is laying tile!

It's the weekend and the Straw Buyer is stuck at home remodeling a bathroom. What a pain in the ass having to rip out the old sink, vanity, all the old tile and then having to put it all back together. Tough to do when you only have the weekend to work on it! What do you guys think of my new faucet?


Don't fear though, we're still diligently working on the topic at hand though. We've uncovered a very embarrassing relationship that our favorite detective has with some very interesting people that have been in the news lately. We'll discuss next week.

It's FRIDAY! Did you do your homework?

Well? Did you guys complete your homework assignment? Remember the seven homes that we randomly sampled from within a half mile radius of the home that's at the center of the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case? If you would have checked each of the addresses and the status of the properties you would have seen that all but two are in foreclosure and that all but two went into foreclosure almost immediately after the purchase. Bizarre huh? If you would have checked into the sales prices you would have also seen that there was a HEFTY profit made by the sellers on all seven houses. Take into consideration though that the two most recent sales are the ones that aren't in foreclosure, I suspect that the status of those homes is about to change, considering those were the homes in the worst condition which just happened to sell for the most money per square foot. Keep an eye on them. Anyone get where I'm going here?

So what have we stumbled upon? Bizarre coincidence that we found some super expensive homes in the worst area of the Grove? Were the buyers in love with these tiny homes therefore making them pay these extraordinary prices? Hardly. What we've found here is a honey hole for scamsters, see this is the perfect spot since its a poor area but within close proximity to an expensive area. Anyone from Miami knows these homes aren't worth remotely what they sold for, but throw in a crooked appraiser who inflates the value of a subject home using comps from the better area close by then throw that appraisal in front of a bank that's out of state who isn't familiar with the area and VIOLA, you get the base ingredients for FRAUD! Sure you're a little skeptical, you might think, hey this is nothing but the gentrification of a poor area, but you're wrong.

Lets look at another example of the same scenario but in a different area, lets go to whats called Miami's Upper East side and the Buena Vista area. For years these areas had degenerated into a haven for drug dealers and prostitutes but little by little things started to clean up, there are homes in the high six figure low seven figure range in these areas. For the most part the gentrification of this area goes as far west as Miami Avenue, to the east you have refurbished old Miami homes that fetch a premium then to the west you have similar homes that are worth far less. The redevelopment never got west of Miami Ave, perhaps because of the proximity to Little Haiti, regardless though, Miami Ave is like a fence, the people from the east side don't cross! Now imagine if I'm a scamster, I can pick up one of the homes on the west side for a song then get a dirty appraiser to run up the appraisal using the comps from the east side, put it in front of a bank who doesn't know the area and BAM, another recipe for fraud. Throw in a straw buyer whose going to sell the scamsters his credit and WE'RE GOOD TO GO!

Makes you wonder huh? Do you think the Mortgage Fraud Task Force knows about this? See how we've brought a whole new group of people into the fraud? See how there's areas that are rife with scams? Who loses? Sure the banks lose, but in the end we all lose through increased property assessments which lead to increased property taxes, the neighbors lose since these busted out homes usually remain empty and become a haven for drug dealers which in turn lowers the property values for the legitimate home owners. In the end its a lose, lose situation. In my opinion this is where the task force and the state attorneys office should be concentrating their energy on.

Now back to our friend Jorge Baluja, I wonder what he thinks of these over appraised shacks that we found in the grove. Jorge, what do you think of $500+ per square foot?

CRAP!

Sadly enough the Detective is probably more concerned with the possible theft of the missing hubcap on the car than the real crime at hand! Have a good weekend guys.

Roger Besu, WHERE'S MY $2 MILLION?!

HUH? While the state is busy with the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case, whose guarding the hen house? I mean after all, consider how much time and tax payers money the state has spent prosecuting the players in the Bernardo Barrera case, thank god for that! While they got their hands full, who's relentlessly prosecuting the real bad guys? Take a look at this little story:

Roger Besu, 233
Palm Ave., Miami Beach, suspended until further order, following a Feb. 5 court order. (Admitted to practice: 1974) According to an emergency suspension order, Besu appeared to be causing great public harm by misappropriating and/or diverting client funds entrusted to him. In October 2008, a client filed a complaint with The Florida Bar, alleging that Besu was holding more than $3.5 million of his money in escrow and he had not been able to reach Besu by telephone or at his office. Besu did not respond to a Bar subpoena. An audit revealed nearly $2 million was missing from a trust account that he controlled.(Case No. SC09-187)

HOLY CRAP! Did I read that right?! THERE'S TWO MILLION DOLLARS MISSING FROM THIS GUYS TRUST ACCOUNT? Its not like this just happened either, IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR NEARLY THREE YEARS! Surely by now there must be a criminal case right? He must have been arrested by now right? Based on our diligent search of the county records, WE SEE NOTHING! WTF?! Two million missing and no action?


Why is there no action in this case? With this much money missing how come we've never heard anything in the media? See, in this case no one in the MDPD or the State Attorneys Office has anything to gain by publicizing this mess. There's going to be no accolades from the Mayor or the President, there's no political points for going after this guy! The Mortgage Fraud Task Force needs headlines! What about the Herald and David Ovalle? Doesn't anyone think this is newsworthy?! I guess not!

Tomorrow we revisit the seven homes in the Grove from yesterday's post. Has everyone done their homework? Are any of those homes in foreclosure? Where any of them flipped within one month of their original purchase? Any of those flips have a six figure profit?

HOMEWORK! What the hell is going on in the grove?!

That's right, I'm giving our readers a homework assignment! Listen up readers from the MDPD and the Mortgage Fraud Task Force! Remember the home where all this mess started from, 3390 Oak Ave? Lets pretend were standing in the front yard and look across the street. What do we see?

3379 Oak Ave, last sale December 2008, sale price $397,000 or $616.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!

Now, lets look at the house just to the right,

3375 Oak Ave, last sale date September 2008, sale price $490,000 or $425.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


A few doors down we get,

3610 Oak Ave, last sale date April 2007, sale price $535,000 or $328.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


A little further north,

3300 Plaza St, last sale June 2006, sale price $525,000 or $365.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


Around the corner;

3551 Frow Ave, last sale May 2008, sale price $500,000 or $438.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


and just a few doors away...

3309 William Ave, last sale June 2008, sale price $450,000 or $511.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


One more...
3146 Hibiscus St, last sale June 2008, sale price $490,000 or $471.00 PER SQUARE FOOT!


LOOK AT THE PRICES! Guess what? These aren't bad ass homes in the Gables! These are all homes in one of the worst areas of the grove all less than half a mile from the home that's the subject of the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case. These homes are surrounded by homes that are all worth WELL below what these homes sold for, not to mention that the surrounding homes are all in much better condition than the ones that we mentioned. How's that possible? The worst homes in the neighborhood being the most expensive? When these homes were purchased, you were hard pressed to approach those prices per square foot even in Coral Gables!

Folks, this isn't the gentrification of the poorer areas of the grove, this is the BUSTING OUT of the poorer areas of the Grove! WTF PEOPLE? For those of you so inclined, do a little research on these homes and their current status. We'll discuss our findings tomorrow.

What exactly was that post from yesterday about?

So what was that post yesterday regarding civil court case #2008-600947-CA-11 about? There's more than one aspect to the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case, there's the criminal case and then there is the civil case where Citibank (who financed the home on Oak Avenue) is foreclosing on the home that is at the center of this mess. Since Mr. Barrera claimed that his identity was stolen, from what I see in the court files, the bank is suing John Doe (since Detective Baluja was never able to determine who showed up at the closing) in the foreclosure suit. The court has even appointed a Guardian to determine if indeed there was an impostor at the closing!

Does it seem right that Detective Baluja arrested at least TWO people at the center of this fraud yet he was never able to identify the man who came to closing posing (supposedly) as Bernardo Barrera? I wonder if the attorneys in the foreclosure case have looked deeper into this mystery? Do you think they bought Mr. Barrera's story hook line and sinker the way Detective Baluja did? I doubt it. I suspect justice will be done in the civil case. From what I understand Citibank is looking at getting reimbursed for their loss and attorneys fees in this case from an insurance policy, I could only imagine that by now between one thing and another that their cost here is well over $750,000. I can't imagine that the insurance company is going to go ahead and fork over that kind of money without a fight, can you? Do you think the insurance company has some bullshit attorneys representing them? I get the feeling that the attorneys are the best in the business, attorneys who will leave no stone unturned, attorneys who don't rely on people like Detective Baluja to make their case, attorneys who WILL GET TO THE BOTTOM OF THIS MESS AND FIND THE TRUTH!

Now, is there another attorney involved in the Barrera Mortgage fraud case that's keeping up with our little story here? You think he's keeping tabs on our activities? Has he learned anything from our nearly two months of ranting?

Where are we at?

So nearly two months into this mess and where are we at today? We've exposed some really piss poor police work regarding the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud investigation, we've shown that the states victim in this case, Bernardo Barrera, has indeed committed mortgage fraud in the past and we've shown that Mr. Barrera has made some highly suspect statements to the police regarding the fraud in question. Pretty earth shattering stuff huh? Yet there's seemingly no reaction. Why? The MDPD can't or won't do anything for fear of tainting the image of its Mortgage Fraud Task Force and on the other hand, although its the job of the State Attorneys office to find the TRUTH and make sure JUSTICE is done, they won't recognize their errors for fear of ruining their ongoing prosecution.

So where does that leave us? Has everything we've done been a total waste of time? Will no one recognize the truth and act on it? DAMN! If only there was another forum where that wasn't ridden with hidden agenda's and political undercurrents, if only there was a court where THE TRUTH DID MATTER. Guess what boys and girls, there is. A forum where wrong doing will be uncovered, a setting where the state's WIN AT ALL COST attitude DOESN'T PREVAIL, a court where lawyers will be called to the carpet for screwing around and hiding evidence. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to case number 2008-60947-ca-11.

The week in review...

Let's see what we got...

1. Another mortgage fraud case and Jorge is going to have to show up for court.
2. I won't go to this deposition once BUT FOUR TIMES!
3. The Straw Buyer gets a new car!
4. What's John Romney been up to?
5. Detective Jorge Baluja lying to the court.
6. It's the weekend and I'm lonely!

FUN, FUN, FUN!

It's the weekend and I'm lonely!!

Its Saturday and I'm stuck in my miserable little townhouse! So I figured a few weeks ago, I needed to get out of my funk so I applied to one of those online dating services with the cool TV commercials, eHarmony. I fill out all the questionnaires and get this rejection back:

CRAP!

So I'm driving home the other day and go down McDonald street off of US-1 where the K-Mart used to be on the corner. Low and behold THERE'S A DAMN HOME DEPOT THERE! WTF!? All I remember is how all those Grove people chased Home Depot out!? WTF is this?


Does anyone remember all that fuss the Coconut Grove residents made when Home Depot wanted to redevelop the shopping center into a new Home Depot that was literally an architectural masterpiece? Grove residents got together and created "Grove First" then tried to stop Home Depot from building on the site. Home Depot did everything they could to placate Grove residents by offering deed restrictions that would only allow trucks in and out of the site from certain directions and only during certain hours, as far as I remember Home Depot did EVERYTHING it could to accommodate the "Grove First" people all to no avail. Here is a rendering of what the Home Depot was supposed to look like:


From what I've learned it looks like since Home Depot decided not to build a new building, it didn't require permission from anyone to go ahead and just stick a new Home Depot in the old K-mart space. So thanks to all those wannabe community activists (who I assume where backed by the owner of Shell Lumber who has the most to lose from a new Home Depot close by) we get this turd instead:

Nice work guys!

It's friday so I'll make this short and sweet.

Remember that motion that was filed with the court that we discussed earlier in the week regarding Detective Baluja's reluctance to show up to his deposition? We finally got a copy of it! I find this quote most interesting:

"8-Det. Baluja's actions as set forth above and his refusal to attend his continuing deposition are clearly contemptuous and in violation of this Court's Order and constitute a willful and intentional attempt to frustrate the discovery process in this cause."

OH SNAP! How's the judge going to react to that? How do you plan on explaining yourself out of this one? There's a suggestion in the same motion that you LIED regarding your vacation in June:

"...advised by the state "he was out all of June on vacation", although it appears that Det. Baluja was less than candid with the Assistant State Attorney handling this matter, since it seems that he was actually on vacation for only two (2) weeks."

YIKES!

Rest easy and have a good weekend Jorge, don't worry though, we'll be back on Monday...

What's John Romney been up to?

Everyone remember John Romney? Mr. Romney was the man who had purchased the home on Oak Avenue for $185,000 then six days later resold it for $600,000 to a man who had stolen Bernardo Barrera's identity. Let's give Mr. Romney the benefit of the doubt and assume that he is innocent of any wrong doing in this case, still, that's a nice profit for holding the property for JUST 6 DAYS!

So whats Mr. Romney been doing since the Barrera arrests back in October '08? Lets go to the trusty Sunbiz website and see if we can figure out what Mr. Romney has been up to. Here's what we find when we search the database using Mr. Romney's name as a registered agent:


All in all its fairly innocuous, all but a couple of the corporations and LLC's are inactive, but there's one that catches my eye, P.U.D.D. Enterprise, LLC. I've heard people use the term PUDD in the past (in a not so flattering way), lets see what the Urban Dictionary says about the word "PUDD":

• A short, retarded, shriveled, small, nut sack; ball sack. Commonly associated with a chode. "Dude, you got a pudd."
• Another word for pussy. "Man he is a pudd ass nigga."

ALRIGHTY THEN! Not exactly on the top of my list for company names, but what the hell! I always remember stories of crooks using screwy names for their companies as a way of snubbing their noses at law enforcement, IE a famous marijuana smuggler naming one of his companies G.R. Eady, Incorporated. Get it? Sort of like giving the establishment the finger, after all, why else would you name your company after your NUT SACK?

Now let's take a look at his newest company:


What are we left to conclude from that name boys and girls? Think about the name;

"REAL ESTATE FRAUD PREVENTION ORGANIZATION,LLC"

Interesting name for a company considering the charges that Mr. Romney is up against, isn't it? Amazing. I thought I had balls. My shriveled up nuts are nothing next to Mr. Romney's! This who done it is above my pay grade, I sent what I found up to DC to see if they could make sense of it, what does my man Obama think?

SPEECHLESS? OH CRAP!

I got a new car! There may be something wrong though, perhaps Detective Jorge Baluja of the MDPD Auto theft squad can help!

That's right boys and girls, The Straw Buyer splurged and bought himself a new car! After all with all the incentives and the Cash for Clunkers money, who could pass up buying a new car right now?! I'm driving through Hialeah the other day and this car lot catches my attention, I pull in and instantly fall in love! Now I'm no millionaire and I have no problems telling you guys that I purchased a Hyundai. Let me tell you boys and girls, these Korean cars have come a long way since the first came to the states in the mid 80's. This car is NICE! Not to mention I GOT THE DEAL OF A LIFETIME!

Small problem though, for some reason or another people keep staring at the car, at first I thought they're just HATERS, but come on guys its just a HYUNDAI! I'm at a loss. I was wondering though, since our beloved Detective Jorge Baluja has left the mortgage fraud task force and is now assigned to Auto Theft, do you think he could use his investigatory acumen to help me out here? After all, Detective Baluja made one hell of a case with the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud investigation, looking over my new Hyundai should be a piece of cake!

So come on Jorge, the pride and joy of the MDPD Auto Theft unit, what do you think of my new Hyundai?


I know what you're thinking Jorge, IT NEEDS RIMS RIGHT?!

Misstatement of facts, an appology to the readers and Jorge Baluja.

I have to apologize to the readers and to Jorge Baluja himself. It looks like I misstated the facts on August 12, 2009 when I posted that the Detective refused to attend the deposition regarding the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case. We here at The Straw Buyer do our best to tell this story as accurately as possible, its with great anguish that I have to admit that I made a mistake. On August 12, I stated that the detective had refused to attend the depo when in fact based on a motion filed with the Clerk of the Court yesterday regarding this case, Detective Jorge Baluja HAD IN FACT REFUSED TO ATTEND DEPOSITIONS FOR THIS CASE ON FOUR SEPARATE OCCASIONS!

That's right boys and girls, the detective didn't just refuse to show up for his depo that was scheduled for August 6, 2009 but he had missed three other depositions. It looks like Jorge is going before the judge and could possibly be held in contempt of court for his shenanigans. Lets look at the dates and the excuses:

February 17, 2009 Detective Baluja calls 15 minutes before the deposition was scheduled and claims that he can't attend because he's busy doing undercover work.

I hope so Jorge, god forbid you really weren't doing undercover work that day! I sure hope that he didn't mean HIDING UNDER THE COVERS AT HOME!

March 23, 2009 Detective Baluja claims that he's not working that day and since the department wasn't paying him, he didn't have to attend the deposition.

DUH! This is a court ordered subpoena ASSCLOWN! Whether you're working or not, you have to show up!

June 1 through 30, 2009 Detective Baluja claims that he had taken off the entire month of June and represents as much to the court.

To all the MDPD readers of The Straw Buyer that work alongside Jorge Baluja, do you remember seeing him around the office during the month of June? If so drop us a line ( thestrawbuyer@gmail.com ) so we can find out whether or not he was actually on vacation. If indeed the good detective was at work, OH BOY!

August 6, 2009 At 4:45 on August 5, 2009 the Detective notifies all parties concerned that HE REFUSES TO SHOW UP FOR THE DEPOSITION ON AUGUST 6!

That four strikes buddy. Back in school, did the dog eat your homework all the time? What now Jorge? How are you going to explain your way out of this one? What are you scared of? Is there something in those files that we don't know about? Are you trying to cover something up? I haven't gotten access to the deposition that were given by the states witnesses, is there something in there that's got you concerned? I'm hearing rumors Jorge, things like perjury, coercing witnesses, fabrication of evidence, etc, more or less the same pattern of behavior exhibited in the Blanton Harris traffic accident investigation. Don't worry Jorge, we're going to find out, you can bull$hit everyone else, not us.

Its not going to be pretty boys and girls, I get the feeling the judge is going to wipe the floor clean with Detective Baluja. Now, on to other matters! Can you believe the Straw Buyer has made it all the way TO MEXICO? That's right, we got an email from MEXICO regarding our site!!!!

WE'RE WORLDWIDE JORGE!!!!!

The case of Ernesto Portuondo and a possible face to face with Jorge Baluja?

It seems like everywhere I go all we talk about is The Straw Buyer. I went to a get together over the weekend and guess what the topic of conversation was? You got it, THE STRAW BUYER! Here's a scene from that get together...


Lets take a break from the norm and look back at another mortgage fraud case that we mentioned a few weeks back, the case of Ernesto Portuondo. Mr. Portuondo had some heavy charges landed against him ranging from Grand Theft, Mortgage Fraud to several counts of forgery and money laundering, you would think from the charges alone that Mr. Portuondo was well on his way up $hits creek. At the very least a laundry list of charges (over 9) should be enough to ensure some sort of jail time correct? Well boys and girls, from what I can see in the Miami Dade County Clerk of Courts website, it looks like just 29 days after Mr. Portuondo was arrested the state dropped all but one of the charges against him! WOW! Eight charges JUST VANISHED? Compare that to the charges in the Bernardo Barrera case that are still pending TEN MONTHS LATER?! Makes you wonder how the state will address that one remaining charge right? We'll see.

Back to business! I'm sure you all remember last week when Detective Baluja decided not to attend a deposition regarding the Bernardo Barrera mortgage fraud case? From what I'm hearing through the grapevine, it looks like the good detective is going to have to go before the judge (possible as early as this week) to explain why he couldn't attend the deposition. More than likely the judge will then set the next deposition WHICH HE WILL HAVE TO ATTEND or risk arrest on contempt of court charges if he doesn't. Rest assured, if he goes before the judge, we'll be there!

The week in review.

Here we are again at the beginning of what will PROVE to be an action packed week (I promise!), lets take a look at what we learned this week...

• Common themes in the Detectives work product.
• Detective Baluja can't figure out how to execute his own mortgage.
• The Straw Buyer having some affect on the good detective!
• We're famous! Francisco Alvarado of the New Times picks up our story!!
• Comments on the New Times Article and a note from Attorney Jason Wandner.

This week were going to add some new characters to our story, so stay tuned. I feel sick, I'm going to go get some soup...

Coments from the New Times article and a surprising email.

Some strange comments from the New Times Article:

"Rick S. says:
Frankly, I can't blame the cop. I don't know about the other guys he harassed, but I've met the young attorney, and I would have done ANYTHING to get my hands on that hot attorney with her sexy green eyes, and legs to die for. Poor Guy maybe he lost his mind.....Posted On: Thursday, Aug. 13 2009 @ 9:29AM "

Damn! The thought of being able to bring in an attractive young female attorney in handcuffs! How many different fetishes are at work there!? I wonder if any of the Detectives superiors had any training in...

Now, back to the detective, here he is showing us how to search a subject...

Back on topic! I've mentioned before that I'm getting little anonymous notes from all over the place regarding Detective Jorge Baluja and now I get an interesting email from attorney Jason Wandner regarding this case. For those that don't recall the name, according to the Miami Herald article, Mr. Wandner was the attorney representing attorney Delaila Estefano at the time the arrests were made. Mr. Wandner told me a number of terrifically embarrassing facts about Detective Baluja's investigation, but most interestingly he gave me the following statement that detective Baluja made after the arrests. In a telephonic conversation with Mr Wandner, Detective Baluja stated:

"I knew she was guilty (the attorney) when she lawyered
up..."

EXCUSE ME?! Detective, have you ever heard of something called THE SIXTH AMENDMENT?! Invoking your right to an attorney isn't an admission of guilt! Are you NUTS?! The only conclusion you can draw from someone "lawyering up" is that they're sick of dealing with your dumb ass and they want all your inquiries to go through AN ATTORNEY!

The reality is, when Detective Baluja arrested the attorney, any chance he had of making a real case went up in smoke. If he's fortunate enough, perhaps while he's sitting at his desk at the MDPD Auto Theft task force, someone will be kind enough to read him last weeks newspaper, maybe then he'll realize how bad he screwed up. Sadly enough, when he rushed to make his arrests on October 3, 2008, this is what the people he should have been looking at were doing...

Mr. Wandner made some other very disturbing comments regarding this investigation and how it was handled by the Detectives assigned to it, I have to try to confirm some of these allegations, hopefully I'll be able to do so early next week.

Oh crap, now look what happened!

Jorge, look whose here...


That's right, it looks like our little story got the interest of Francisco Alvarado and the New Times, YIKES! This story is spreading like wildfire, it seems to be making its way all over the internet! I want to be absolutely clear regarding Mr. Alvarado's comment:

"What did Jorge Baluja do to elicit so much hatred?"

There's no hate here people, none whatsoever. You can't label revealing Detective Baluja's misdeeds and documenting how he has screwed up investigations that have destroyed peoples lives as hatred. No sir, all we're doing here is telling a story that mainstream media wouldn't tell, we're exposing how bad cops work and the consequences of their actions. I understand this is a terribly embarrassing situation for the Detective, his family and friends, but how could you compare what the Detective is going through to the humiliation that he caused Blanton Harris and his stepson Jakeem Attwell at the scene of his botched traffic accident investigation? How can you have sympathy for Mr. Baluja's feelings when he operated his mortgage fraud investigation and subsequent arrest of the attorney with no regard for her reputation and career? Who knows who else is out there whose lives you have interrupted with your half ass police work, who knows whats buried in the MDPD files. Guess what though, I'm going to find it.

Back to the article, Mr. Alvarado goes on to say:

"An anonymous blogger named the Straw Buyer has been dedicating a serious amount of bandwidth to bash and ridicule the Miami-Dade Police detective."

Serious amount of time and bandwidth YO! Best of all, my man Obama's stimulus check just came in, now I'm even better funded to investigate this story!


I know I must have struck a chord with someone in the Baluja clan based on what we see in the comments section:

"Supporter of Det. Baluja says: Not only is this blogger going on a petty rampage on some poor guy doing his job, he doesn't even have his facts straight."

Well, supporter of the good detective, I've taken GREAT CARE NOT TO STATE ANYTHING IN THIS BLOG THAT I CAN'T BACK UP WITH FACTS! (If I were a betting man, I'd say this is the detective himself making the post!) See, unlike the detective whose investigations are given to flights of fancy and wild liberties with the facts, I support everything I say with TRUTH. As easy as it would have been to make up things about the detective, it would be disingenuous of me to do so, instead I do my due diligence, find documents to support my assertions and then go forward. You would think that's the same level of care Detective Baluja would have taken when his actions could potentially DESTROY PEOPLES LIVES. I wont dignify the rest of Mr. Baluja's supporters comments here, it looks to me like the other people who commented on the New Times blog did a pretty good job, I'm not here to humiliate the poster any further.

You want to know who I am Jorge? I figure I owe you at least that, here's a recent photo I had taken of myself. You want to know where I am? I'm right behind you.


Where do we go now Detective Baluja? Should I go ahead and answer all the emails that I've been getting from the mainstream media for interviews regarding the case and the blog? I know you've denied several of those very same requests, I think for the sake of the site and the readers I should let them interview me, I owe you that much.

Enough for now, I'm going out to eat. I'm thinking Chinese...

WIN, WIN, WIN for the straw buyer and more of the same for Detective Baluja...

Well, well, well, looks like the straw buyer is having some affect! It appears after keeping tabs on our little website, Detective Jorge Baluja decided NOT TO ATTEND A DEPOSITION FOR THE MORTGAGE FRAUD CASE LAST WEEK! The rumor mill is abuzz with different theories as to why he REFUSED to show up for his deposition, but the prevailing thought is that this website had A LOT TO DO WITH IT!


I mean after all, whats there to be scared of Jorge? We only know whats available through an online search of public records, is there something hiding in the court files that we don't know about? More misconduct on your part? More dirt on how you ran a half assed investigation? More gross negligence in the way you handled the case? Come one Jorge, you let the bad guys get away, you were oh so close to solving a real crime but instead you decided to take the path of least resistance and made a nonsensical arrest. If its out there Jorge, rest assured were going to find it, if there's more evidence of you screwing up this case we'll post it. If you don't know about it, then have someone read you the contents of this site so you'll be well aware of whats coming. After all Detective Baluja, like you guys in law enforcement like saying...

"the train has left the station"

Lets make sure we all the bases covered.

"the ship has left port..."

"the plane has left the gate..."

We're expecting a rough ride Jorge, so sit down and fasten your seat belt, there's no coming back from where we're going.

Well! Now you have to ask yourself the million dollar question, after the evidence that we've uncovered from public records available online, why has the MDPD and the State Attorneys Office refused to go after Bernardo Barrera, the man who claimed his identity was stolen therefore creating the mess that this blog is about? Consider for a moment that we here at the Straw Buyer don't have access to Mr. Barrera's credit history, bank records, etc. Imagine what we could find that would further implicate Mr. Barrera in this case or even the previous identity theft case if we had access to these records? Everything we've gathered to date has been the result of spending less than 30 minutes online examining public records that are available to EVERYONE! Ironically, Detective Baluja had the power to obtain any and all records pertaining to Bernardo Barrera, did he ever subpoena these records? Who knows.

Long before all this mortgage fraud noise became the flavor of the day for law enforcement, nearly ten years ago a Detective told me the following:

"when I know you're up to no good and I can't prove it, my first step is to pull up your mortgage."

What he meant by that was that there was virtually no one that he had ever run across that didn't in some way shape or form make some sort of misstatement on their mortgage application, by finding that little fib he then had you by the balls since by the letter of the law any misstatement or misrepresentation in obtaining a mortgage is MORTGAGE FRAUD! Lets take a closer look at the statute:

817.545 Mortgage fraud.--

(2) A person commits the offense of mortgage fraud if, with the intent to defraud, the person knowingly:

(a) Makes any material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission during the mortgage lending process with the intention that the misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission will be relied on by a mortgage lender, borrower, or any other person or entity involved in the mortgage lending process; however, omissions on a loan application regarding employment, income, or assets for a loan which does not require this information are not considered a material omission for purposes of this subsection.

(b) Uses or facilitates the use of any material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission during the mortgage lending process with the intention that the material misstatement, misrepresentation, or omission will be relied on by a mortgage lender, borrower, or any other person or entity involved in the mortgage lending process; however, omissions on a loan application regarding employment, income, or assets for a loan which does not require this information are not considered a material omission for purposes of this subsection.

WELL SLAP MY ASS AND CALL ME CHARLIE! Remember a few weeks back where we proved conclusively that Bernardo Barrera committed mortgage fraud in obtaining the mortgage for his primary residence?! The Straw Buyer proved that when Mr. Barrera did the closing on his home not only was he unemployed but he went on to state under the penalty of breaking the law that he was indeed employed! We now know that not only is Detective Baluja reading this blog but so are a number of other members of the MDPD. Lets assume that Detective Baluja didn't do his homework and indeed missed the fact that the states "VICTIM" had committed mortgage fraud in the past, what about all the other members of the MDPD and the State Attorneys Office that now know about the case? We've produced enough irrefutable CONCRETE EVIDENCE that shows Bernardo Barrera had committed mortgage fraud in the past and NO ACTION?! Why? After all by the letter of the law we have the states "victim" committing the very act they accused the defendants in this case of, MORTGAGE FRAUD! There's no action because by admitting that their "victim" is dirty, the credibility of their entire case goes out the window, the entire house of cards comes down.

Enough of this serious stuff, lets take a look at another accident and see what the good Detective thinks.


NO JORGE, YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO GIVE THE TELEPHONE A TICKET FOR CAUSING THE ACCIDENT!

Can a detective on the Mayors heralded Mortgage Fraud Task Force screw up his OWN MORTGAGE!?

Remember where I said we were going in yesterdays post? That's right boys and girls, I told you we were going to Jorge's house! So here you have it ladies and gentlemen, 1,392 sq ft of home situated on 9,625 sq ft of land. A nice little home for our detective and his wife, the American Dream. Good for him.


Now, consider Detective Baluja's training in the MDPD, this man was trained to investigate MORTGAGE FRAUD. In preparing for his assignment on the mortgage fraud task force, the detective had to become intimately familiar with the ins and outs of Real Estate, mortgages, closings, etc. After all, how could he build cases against the bad guys if he didn't know the fundamentals of real estate transactions? Remember, were talking about a task force that can arrest people for the slightest mistake, procedural or otherwise, even down to the minutia of incorrectly filling out a form!

So what would you say if I were to tell you the Detective didn't execute his own mortgage properly? How the hell is that possible? There's no way this could happen right? This Detective, the expertly trained detective who is on the Mayor's elite mortgage fraud task force, the man that knows the ins and outs of how a mortgage is to be executed, how the hell could he make a mistake like this? Are you kidding?


DAMN RIGHT I'M SERIOUS! Take a look for yourself, lets start on page one of the mortgage where it states:

"Borrower is JORGE LUIS BALUJA, A MARRIED MAN..."

Get it? Now, lets look at the bottom of each page of Mr. Baluja's mortgage, from page one through sixteen. I've omitted page 15 since there is personal information there that has no bearing on our discussion.

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

Page 5

Page 6

Page 7

Page 8

Page 9

Page 10

Page 11

Page 12

Page 13

Page 14

Page 16

Anyone see the problem? Do you remember the quote from page 1? Here it is again in case you forgot:

"Borrower is JORGE LUIS BALUJA, A MARRIED MAN..."

That's right, Jorge is married so not only does he have to sign off on the mortgage, but his wife has to as well! Now before we jump to conclusions, his wife did sign on the signature block on page 15, but ONLY ONE OF THEM INITIALED THE OTHER 15 PAGES! You know what that means? Come on now, I'm sure you can figure it out! You are required to initial the bottom of each page to acknowledge whats contained on the page! Because Detective Baluja is a married man, both he and his wife are required to initial the bottom OF EVERY PAGE as well as sign the signature page at the end of the mortgage. Having only one of them initial the pages of the mortgage MAKES THE MORTGAGE INVALID! This is the kind of mistake that the foreclosure defense clinics salivate over! To remedy the situation, this mortgage has to be re executed and re recorded. Hopefully the Detective will take this bit of advice and take care of this colossal FCUK UP!

I'm sure that Detective Baluja didn't do this on purpose, but this mistake does highlight another point, HOW THE HELL CAN A COP WHOSE JOB IT IS TO INVESTIGATE MORTGAGE FRAUD NOT CORRECTLY EXECUTE HIS OWN MORTGAGE?! DAMN! This cop who has the power to turn peoples lives upside down, whose job it is to examine mortgage documents with a fine tooth comb screwed up the easiest possible aspect of his own mortgage! This is the man who conducted an investigation that destroyed peoples lives?

Once again we find ourselves scratching our heads. From screwing up a simple accident investigation to screwing up the execution of his own mortgage, yet this man is still allowed to carry a gun and badge.

God help us.