"Honey, you've been scammed," a Chesapeake woman was told. She lost her home of 30 years.
Barbara Barkley is 4 feet 10 inches tall. So she designed her home in Chesapeake, just for herself, with all the counters and handles lowered.
People told her the changes would make the house harder to sell, but she didn't care.
"I planned to live there until I died," said Barkley, 68.
Instead, she is renting a place from a relative in North Carolina. She lost her house and her savings to a group of California scam artists who stole $11 million from thousands of struggling homeowners looking for help with their mortgages.
The ringleader, 42-year-old Sammy Araya, was sentenced in federal court in Alexandria earlier this month to 20 years in prison. Eleven others got sentences ranging from five to 18 years.
Read more: https://pilotonline.com/news/local/crime/honey-you-ve-been-scammed-a-chesapeake-woman-was-told/article_caae8099-3002-56a2-9f94-08ecb324d830.html
= new reply since forum marked as read
