Arizona Congressman Rick Renzi indicted in land swap scam
Republican Rick Renzi was indicted on 35 counts last Friday. The charges involved a land deal where in he has been alleged to have used his position to make personal gains. He was indicted under money laundering, wire fraud and extortion among other charges.
It is alleged that Renzi supported a bill that would have inflated the value of a property belonging to an associate. The bill would have made it possible for the property to be swapped with land owned by the government. This undoubtedly would make any real estate acquisition more attractive for investors and bring in more buyers. It can be a sure way of manipulating and suddenly increasing the value of a property.
Reason he is under suspicion is that the land that was proposed to be brought under the bill belonged to his friend and associate James Sandlin. Of late his insurance business was reportedly not doing too well. The congressman was also said to be having problems in keeping up his lifestyle. It is suspected that he might have taken payoffs for pushing forth the bill.
The property saw substantial increase in value even though Renzi later withdrew support for the bill. He might have sensed trouble with the attention and the controversy that the bill generated once his association with the property came under public glare.
This should prompt caution from people planning to purchase property. They should be particularly wary and probably ask around if any property seems to have recently undergone a sharp increase. For, any artificially promoted increase also runs the risk of crashing. This could mean heavy losses to unsuspecting investors.
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