Image via WikipediaLOS ANGELES – A Pomona Superior Court judge today granted a motion filed by the District Attorney’s Office on behalf of an elderly victim whose home was swindled three years ago by a so-called church bishop who duped the Claremont woman into signing over the grant deed of her home.Judge Steven Blades granted the People’s motion to declare the two grant deeds in this case “null and void and of no legal effect,” said Deputy District Attorney James Daloisio of the West Covina Area Office.
“The objective of this motion was to free up this 89-year-old stroke victim’s property so that she could use her equity to execute a reverse mortgage as she has no substantial means of support and requires constant medical care,” the prosecutor said.
The two instruments at issue in this motion were a grant deed that was forged by Leroy Dowd, 74 – a self-styled bishop who operated the now-defunct Triumph Church of God on 56th and Broadway in Los Angeles – and a second grant deed executed by Dowd in favor of a straw buyer, Bessie Mae Moore, 63, who borrowed $800,000 from victim lender MortgageIt.
Dowd, who met the victim through church in December 2006, told the elderly woman that he could help her secure widow’s benefits from Medicare and Social Security. Under this guise, he tricked her into signing over the grant deed to her $800,000 home, which was paid in full. Eight days later, Dowd sold the house to Moore, who posed as a straw buyer. At closing, Dowd walked away with more than $775,000, the prosecutor said.
Ultimately, Dowd pleaded guilty in May 2010 to one count of grand theft of personal property and was immediately sentenced to three years in state prison. Additionally, he was ordered to pay $800,000 in restitution.
Moore pleaded no contest in December 2008 to one misdemeanor count of obtaining money, labor or property by false pretenses. She was sentenced to 98 days in county jail.
The prosecutor gave credit to the Claremont Police Department, who investigated the case, for working quickly enough to avoid foreclosure. Additionally, the District Attorney’s Office worked closely with the Los Angeles County Tax Assessor’s fraud investigation unit to reinstate the prior assessed value of the house.
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