Robert Penn

A lawsuit has been filed and is seeking class action status against two Henry County residents for allegedly luring others into a house flipping scheme. The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Indianapolis Division on behalf of nearly 200 real estate fraud scam victims. Robert Penn and his associates were members of an association-in-fact enterprise that was formed to defraud mortgage lenders for the financial enrichment of the members of the Enterprise, made up of individuals and legitimate business entities. The suit alleges Penn recruited Virginia and North Carolina residents into what they thought was an investment club. Straw borrowers were enticed into joining the club through which they could profitably buy investment real estate in Indiana. The real estate investment club was to secure the mortgages for the properties on terms that would not require down payments or cash contributions of any kind from members of the investment club. Penn and his associates were to rent the investment properties and manage them at no cost to club members, but rental income would be used to make payments and club members would profit from the investments. The lawsuit claims Penn knowingly made false representations, but made them with the intention that the members of the class would rely upon them.