Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Atlanta: Turkish agent buys $19M Gulen school foreclosure for mere $3.2M

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via Money Jihad, Backroom deal suspected as Turkish agent buys foreclosed Gulen school property
In 2012, the Atlanta-area Fulton Science Academy (FSA) borrowed $19 million to buy land to expand their campus.  FSA quickly defaulted, and Wells Fargo sued them.  On Feb. 5, the land was sold at a foreclosure auction for $3.2 million according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
The winning bidder?  A recently incorporated company called “TruGlobe,” with three Turkish officers, who were somehow able to come up with over $3 million on the day of the foreclosure sale, at which cash or cashier’s checks are normally required as immediate payment.

Both the Fulton Science Academy and TruGlobe have addresses in Alpharetta, Georgia.  The similarities between the entities indicate probable collusion between the Gulen charter school and the winning bidder prior to the sale.  It is worth noting that bid rigging at foreclosure auctions is a growth area for criminal activity.
The website Roots in Alpharetta was the first to expose the “amazing coincidence” of the buyer’s Turkish identity:

Did a Fulton Science Academy benefactor purchase their land?

Indeed, the registered agent and chief financial officer of TruGlobe is listed as Ahmed Vehbi Ugur, a young man who describes himself as a board member of the Turkish American Chamber of Commerce of the Southeast.  Ugur is also registered as the CEO of the Maress Corporation, a Turkish kitchen appliance business with an Atlanta office.
The Fulton Science Academy belongs to a network of troublesome charter schools under the direction of Fethullah Gulen, an activist who seeks to replace the formally secular government in Turkey with a sharia-dominated Islamic caliphate.  Gulen schools have undertaken an influence peddling and crony contract scheme in Texas, improper financial activities in Georgia, were denied a charter in Virginia, and are currently under an FBI investigation for kickbacks.
Fulton Science Academy appears to have gotten away with stiffing the bank and the Alpharetta Development Authority for $16 million while enabling its TruGlobe associate to purchase the same property at 15 percent of the original price.  FSA’s misrepresentation of their ability to repay the loan and conspiring with a straw buyer to purchase it on their behalf is clearly unethical, and although it would be nearly impossible to prove, these activities could constitute a possible mortgage fraud case.
Read the full details at MoneyJihad and check them out on Twitter @MoneyJihad.

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