miércoles, 22 de julio de 2009

“Tumban” al activista Fernando Mateo con US $3. 8 millones de dólares en una transacción de compra



NUEVA YORK/Elnuevodiario.com._ El reconocido activista dominicano Fernando Mateo, creador del programa “Juguetes por Armas”, portavoz de la Federación de Taxistas del Estado de Nueva York, presidente de Hispanos a Través de América y ex asesor de la campaña reeleccionista hispana del alcalde Michael Bloomberg hace cuatro años, fue víctima de un mega “tumbe” cuando un dueño fantasma de un edificio que le compraría en Harlem, se esfumó con la suma de $3.8 millones de dólares que el criollo le había entregado. Acusa al también dominicano Henry Vargas de ser el responsable de la estafa y al que acusó oficialmente en un tribunal local.
Mateo dijo que después de la transacción en la que fue estafado por el ladrón, él, su esposa y su familia han quedado prácticamente sin un centavo y en la quiebra. Explicó que la fortuna timada, es el resultado de su trabajo de toda una vida en los Estados Unidos.
La historia la publica el blog RATV que edita en la Internet el comunicador Ramón Aníbal Ramos y ha sido confirmado por medios anglófonos como el New York Post y otros. Mateo dijo que el inmueble está localizado en el número 2141 de la avenida Lenoz y el alegado vendedor se hizo pasar por el “dueño”.
El activista expresó que ha trabajado por más de 30 años y es muy doloroso lo que le ha sucedido. “Espero conseguir justicia en la corte”. Mateo sometió una demanda contra el timador en una corte de Nueva York y en la que dice que ha perdido los ahorros de toda su vida en el falso proyecto.
Con 51 años de edad y residiendo en el exclusivo condado de Weschester, una zona para neoyorquinos acaudalados, detalló que el año pasado conversó con su socio Peter Skylas para meterse en el negocio de compra y venta de casas y edificios, creyendo que era una gran oportunidad para aumentar su capital.
Recordó que Vargas le aseguró a él y a su socio que era el “dueño” del 90% de la propiedad, pero según los papeles judiciales el edificio de Harlem, nunca se ha puesto a la venta. El verdadero dueño de la estructura es el señor Manuel Durán, otro dominicano quien aclaró la situación cuando conversó con varios inquilinos a los que les renta apartamentos de viviendas allí. Durán es propietario desde 1997.
Mateo interpuso una demanda por $10 millones de dólares por daños y perjuicios sicológicos, pero los investigadores no han podido localizar a Vargas para que ofrezca su versión, por lo que se supone está huyendo, mientras Skyrlas el socio del activista, no figura en el reclamo legal.
Autor: Miguel Cruz Tejada

1 comentario:

Anónimo dijo...

Henry Vargas is a gangster, a crook and a thief.

There are several things you might not know about Henry Vargas, who is currently on parole after serving a sentence for fraud. It seems like he did not learn from his past mistakes and even while still on probation he decided to plan and execute his biggest scam of all. Carefully watching all the details of his plan, Vargas decided to impersonate a Real Estate Developer.

His plan started with developing a marketing/advertising campaign that would put him on the map and make his face recognizable. In mid 2007, Billboards were leased in strategic points of the city. You might have seen one or two of them along the West Side Highway or while driving on the Deegan in New York. In his sign, Vargas dons a mischievous grin almost as if thinking of all the wealth he would fraudulently acquire within the next months and is accompanied only by a simple text directing the viewer to his website www.harlemluxuryliving.com.

By the end of summer in 2007 Vargas had already acquired a sumptuous loan care of CFA Capital Partners with some Harlem properties as guarantee. Little did the owner of these properties, Victor Vargas (henry’s father), know that the loan had been contracted and that no payments on it would be made for more than a year. This eventually pushed the properties into foreclosure and today, Victor Vargas’ “American-dream-work-of-an-entire-lifetime” is in jeopardy thanks to his miscreant son Henry who parades himself in expensive cars and claims humility while flaunting expensive clothes and jewelry.

I wish the story would end here, But part of Henry Vargas’ master plan also included establishing an office in Harlem where he claims to be a Licensed Real Estate Broker. There are no records whatsoever in the State Department of New York that Henry is a Licensed broker or a salesperson for that matter. I have never, in the long years working in this industry ever heard of a convicted felon being awarded a Real Estate Broker’s License. The office functions shadily near Central Park in Harlem and charges deposits for showing apartments. These deposits are never payed back and there are several cases in Small Claims court at the moment thanks to a never-ending list of bounced checks signed by Mr. Vargas. Some of these checks intended to cover services rendered to Vargas personally or the company itself. All bounced, and all is left is a group of very disgruntled professionals who have tried to get their money back without success.

With the proper infrastructure in place, Vargas decided to go after the big bucks with his biggest scam ever. After retaining the services of well-known young and artsy architects to design a towering marvel to be constructed in a triangular lot facing Central Park North on Lenox and St. Nicholas Avenues (2141 Lenox ); Henry Vargas proceeded to also retain the services of the best known zoning attorney in the city to head the re-zoning project for this lot in particular presumed to be his. Once the rezoning process had started and designs for the modern tower were completed, Vargas then proceeded to look for potential investors selling pieces of the pie at millions at a time. By the end of 2008 the curtain fell exposing the crook. Vargas had already obtained a large amount of money in lieu of participation and associations to the project but it turned out that the property wasn’t really his and that in order to proceed with the plan and fool everyone, he had masterfully falsified an extensive portfolio of documents which included deeds and titles among others.

Mr. Henry Vargas is far from being a serious businessman and he does not own buildings or properties as he claims. He’s far from it. Please be advised that he is a very dangerous and intelligent person. Do not fall into his whirlpool of lies.