From March through July of 1997, Short and Silver allegedly defrauded more than 300 people through their company, Community Home Buyers. On March 8 attorney General Janet Napolitano announced the Arizona State Grand Jury has indicted Kevin M. Short and Richard Ian Silver alleging that they defrauded low-income individuals. The company advertised itself as an alternative mortgage provider that could help low-income wage earners or individuals with a bad credit profile get a home loan.

The homebuyer would fill out an application, pay application fees (up to a month's salary) and were told to look for a home they wanted. Once the house was located, Community homebuyers promised either to obtain financing for the buyers or purchase the home and sell it to the individual. Many individuals paid a $100 application fee and others paid an additional fee ranging from $500 to $4,000 dollars. None of the victims ever received a house or a refund. In July 1997, Short opened Nationwide Home buyers where he allegedly continued the same practices until April 1998. At least seven individuals fell victim to his scam where, again, no homes or refunds ever materialized.

Short and Silver have been unable to be located, but there are warrants for their arrest. Silver is also wanted in California on similar charges. If convicted, each faces up to 12-1/2 years in prison for the fraud charges and 8-3/4 years for theft.

Attorney General Janet Napolitano later in march also prosecuted a different case of fraud, in Phoenix. Leo K. Pribyl took two pleas Pribyl accepted rent deposits from more than 30 people who wanted to rent homes. He claimed to own these homes but he did not. Phoenix, March 18 -- announced that a man from the Phoenix area will spend the next eight years in prison for accepting deposits for rental homes that he did not own. Following his prison term will spend seven years on probation and will have to pay more than $730,000 in restitution. Pribyl entered into two plea agreements with the Attorney General's Office in December 1998 for crimes that occurred between 1993 and 1996. In one case, that Pribyl claimed to own, but did not. In the second case, Pribyl accepted money from investors that he claimed would be used to refurbish homes that would then be resold for a profit. Pribyl took the money and in most cases never provided valid deeds of trust as he had promised investors, nor did he make any of the repairs.

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