Stealing from the dead

Thieves and forgers are taking houses from the deceased in ‘hot’ neighborhoods — as the city stands by. 

 

 

by Craig R. McCoy

They are all dead. Yet if city records are to be believed, they all walked into the office of a notary public and signed away their homes, which just happened to be in gentrifying neighborhoods with soaring property values.

Gail Harrison lived alone in the house where she grew up on Seybert Street in North Philadelphia. She had her quirks, but neighbors looked out for her. “She was a nice, friendly, Christian-hearted woman,” one said.

Harriet Dunn and Dorcas Moone lived quietly in a North 27th Street rowhouse in Brewerytown that they bought in 1950 after leaving the Army.

Alex Krasheninnikow survived a Nazi concentration camp. He later handed out the Communist Party paper on the streets of Philadelphia. His home on Agate Street in Port Richmond was overflowing with books.

Their properties all ended up in the hands of a stranger, a 43-year-old man named William Ernest Johnson III, who wrapped up some of the deals while still on parole from a long prison term for a string of violent crimes.

Handout

William Ernest Johnson III has acquired a string of properties in sales involving people who were dead or whose family members have disavowed the acquisitions. Johnson says he is a legitimate businessman victimized by impostors. 

 

In all, an Inquirer investigation has linked Johnson to at least six suspicious home transfers over the last 2½ years. In case after case, he acquired vacant houses with longtime owners who were dead or so aged that their grown children would later say they never participated in the transactions.

Johnson insists that he is a victim too — that he was misled by a series of impostors posing as the dead owners and by other “sellers” who misrepresented the provenance of the deeds they were offering. "I assumed the seller of the home was legitimate, straight up,” he said.

He has resold three of the properties, two for $50,000 each, city records show.

"Fact of the matter is, I’m in the business of providing people with shelter,” he said. “I’m just a person trying to earn an honest living, but at the same time trying to be of help to my community, my neighbors. It’s as simple as that.”

Besides, he said: “What’s the deal here? If these people are dead, what are we talking about?"

Johnson’s nonchalance aside, the transactions have upset neighbors, spawned lawsuits from the families of aggrieved “sellers,” and sparked inquiries, but no charges, from the FBI and the District Attorney’s Office.

They have also drawn attention to the notaries whose stamps appear on the bogus transfers, a crucial aspect of verifying sales.

One is Johnson’s former sister-in-law, Rovella Johnson, who said her name and stamp were forged on documents transferring Harrison’s home. “I’m feeling that somebody fudged some paperwork," she said.

Another is April Marie Scott-Street, the wife of Philadelphia State Sen. Sharif Street, the son of former Mayor John F. Street. She said thieves used a counterfeit notarial seal with her name to complete a series of fraudulent transfers.

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Stealing from the dead