Amazing this puke isn't in jail. Of course the jerk who wrote this gives no info why not. Did he bail? What?
Police: Would-be house thief claimed Obama gave him millions
Auburn man accused of forging deed to Federal Way home, attempting to steal 4 others
BY LEVI PULKKINEN, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF
Published 9:01 pm, Monday, March 17, 2014
Alleged to have been caught attempting to scam his way into homeownership, an aspiring Federal Way resident offered a novel explanation – Obama gave me millions.
That’s the excuse Federal Way police claim Steve Cho offered after having the locks changed on a home he claimed to have bought. King County prosecutors now claim Cho – with his teen daughter’s help – faked a deed for that $650,000 house in an attempt to dupe police.
All told, Cho, a 44-year-old Auburn resident, is alleged to have attempted to scam his way into owning five Federal Way homes and two luxury SUVs. Filing 22 fraud-related counts against him, prosecutors contend Cho defrauded eight banks while attempting to pass bad and forged checks in support of his various schemes.
Cho’s purported fraud appears to have succeeded in at least one way – King County property records currently list him as the owner of the Federal Way home he is now charged with stealing.
Federal Way detectives launched an investigation in February 2013 after Cho and his family were caught moving into a home that had been listed for sale, according to charging papers.
The day before they were found out, Cho and his then-16-year-old daughter asked officers to search a house they claimed to have bought, a Federal Way detective said in charging papers.
Checking to see if anyone was inside on Feb. 26, 2013, officers found the 7th Court Southwest home furnished and apparently lived-in. Photos hung from the walls and a Lexus was parked in the garage.
Having been shown sale paperwork, officers left the house with Cho and his daughter. The house had been locked when police arrived, but Cho called a locksmith to open it up.
Police were back the next day, the daughter of the actual homeowners reported Cho and his family had illegally moved into the home.
Speaking with officers, the homeowners’ daughter said she’d stopped by the house to check up on it as her parents were out of town. She was shocked to find another family living there.
According to charging papers, Cho’s daughter showed officers what purported to be a deed to the house. That deed proved to be a forgery, the detective continued – the house had not been sold.
Questioned by police, the girl ultimately admitted to dummying up the document on her laptop computer, according to charging papers. Her father then had the document notarized at a UPS store.
Following his arrest, Cho told detectives he had $500,000 in the bank and that President Obama had awarded him a $2 million grant.
Police searched Cho’s belongings and found records indicating Cho had tried the scam on four other Federal Way homes and was blocked each time, the detective said in charging papers. In each case, the detective said, Cho put forward bad checks to buy homes while putting himself forward as a wealthy man.
It turned out Cho had attempted to buy the 7th Court house three months before but was turned away after attempting to pass a bogus check, the detective said. According to charging papers, Cho then forged a deed to the home, as well as supporting documents meant to make it appear as though the deed had been filed.
As the investigation continued, detectives came to believe Cho bought a new Infinity SUV with a bad check for $80,700 at a Fife dealership. Navy Federal Credit Union investigators told police Cho never had more than $5 in the account.
Cho is also alleged to have bought a second luxury car two weeks after his arrest at the Federal Way home. Again writing a bad check, the detective said in court papers, Cho made off with a Mercedes ML550; police tracked the car to the home of one of Cho’s relatives.
Searching that car, officers found fake cashier’s checks cut by Cho, the detective said in court papers. Tthe detective went on to claim Cho cashed a bogus $12,000 at a Money Tree store in Federal Way days before his second arrest.
Having retrieved a woman’s wallet from the car, the detective called Cho’s daughter, who admitted it was hers. Cho arrived at the Federal Way police station the following day to retrieve the wallet and was arrested.
Recanting his earlier claim that he’d received a multi-million dollar presidential gift, Cho instead claimed to have received $2.6 million from the Federal Housing Administration. He also claimed to have $700,000 in a bank account police knew to be nearly empty.
Cho has been charged with first-degree theft, mortgage fraud and 20 related counts, including identity theft. He is not currently jailed.
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Seattlepi.com reporter Levi Pulkkinen can be reached at 206-448-8348 or levipulkkinen@seattlepi.com. Follow Levi on Twitter at twitter.com/levipulk.
Measure your wealth not by the things you have, but by the things you have for which you would not take money.
AI
