Miami's Highest-Ranking Female Firefighter Accused Of Fraud
MIAMI (CBS4) - Miami's highest-ranking female firefighter has been charged by a federal grand jury for her part in an $11 million mortgage fraud scheme.
According to CBS4's news partner the Miami Herald, Veldora Arthur, 45, an assistant fire chief in charge of quality control and payroll, knowingly used her identity and credit history in 2006 to purchase two luxury million-dollar condominiums. Both condominiums, which are currently in foreclosure, are located in Aventura's Hidden Bay Condos which boasts amenities like multiple heated pools and spa facilities.
The indictment against Arthur states that she received a payoff even though she had no intention on living in either property. She, along with four others involved in the scheme, is facing a maximum of 20 years in prison for mail fraud and conspiracy to commit wire and mail fraud.
According to Arthur's attorney, Brian Bieber, she was released after she posted $125,000.
Ignatius Carroll, spokesman for the Miami Fire Department, said that Arthur will remain employed until the case is played out in court. Arthur's salary includes a compensation package with benefits close to $300,000 a year, and earns a salary of about $184,000.
"Our stance is this is a personal matter that has nothing to do with her role as a fire chief. So right now she has to report to work. She's innocent until proven guilty," Carroll told the paper.
Arthur's attorneys dispute the charges, calling her a "victim." According to reports, shortly after the condos were purchased, a friend of Arthur's noted that the paperwork wrote her salary as $123,000 a month, not a year. Arthur reported the written mistake to the feds herself.
Bieber said that even though Arthur was able to purchase the high-priced condos with no money down, a commonality during the condo boom, she received a payment after the properties closed. He is still waiting to find out from prosecutors the amount of the payment.
Neil Fagan is the Miami real estate broker that sold Arthur the Aventura properties. In his criminal indictment Fagan is accused of selling properties to Arthur, and three others, "in exchange for a fee, allowed their identities and credit information to be used in false and fraudulent mortgage loan applications…. The straw buyers posed as the true purchasers of the properties and as the individuals who would be making the payments on the mortgage loans.''
Bieber said that Arthur, who was introduced to Fagan by a friend, "believed this was an honest investment during the real estate boom."
Arthur made history in 1986 when she became the city's first black female firefighter. In October of last year she was the first woman to attain the status of assistant chief in the department's 115-year history.
Formal reading of the complaint against Arthur is set to be heard on Thursday.
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