PONTIAC, Mich. – A Pontiac woman pleaded no contest to nine charges after allegedly scamming home buyers in a real estate fraud scheme.
Amanda Escalante-Lopez, 28, from Pontiac, allegedly made verbal agreements with prospective home buyers for land contracts and title to homes in Pontiac that she did not own.
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The victims gave her money, and she, in return, was to give the property to them. However, victims reported they did not receive keys, access or titles to the homes after putting down payments on the homes as agreed upon.
Escalante-Lopez was charged in October with three counts of false pretenses $20,000-$50,000, three counts of false pretenses $1,000-$20,000, one count of larceny by conversion $20,000 or more and three counts of larceny by conversion $1,000-$20,000.
According to court documents, Escalante-Lopez pleaded no contest to nine charges on April 16. She…
This category refers to crimes committed by employees or insiders against their own organizations. It is often the most damaging because the perpetrator has authorized access to systems.
- Asset Misappropriation: The most common form, involving the theft of company resources. This ranges from simple “skimming” (taking cash before it’s recorded) to complex schemes involving the theft of inventory or intellectual property.
- Payroll Fraud: Employees may create “ghost employees” on the system, falsify their own timesheets to claim unworked overtime, or divert salary payments to their own accounts.
- Financial Statement Fraud: Management deliberately misrepresents the company’s financial health by inflating revenue or hiding liabilities to attract investors or meet performance bonuses.