Friday, 17 August 2007

David and Victoria Beckham's real estate agents face fraud charges

Duo allegedly involved in multi-million dollar scam

$David and Victoria Beckham at The Beckham\'s \'Welcome To America\' party at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, America - 22 Jul 2007$

The Beckhams' new £12 million mansion in LA was sold to them by men who are now facing fraud charges.

Real estate agents Kyle Grasso and Joseph Babajian are estimated to have each earned £190,000 from the sale and personally showed Posh, 33 and Becks, 32 around the house.

They are currently accused of being involved in a multi-million dollar 'property-flipping' fraud scheme scam.

According to the 35-count indictment, the two men - and others previously charged in the case - were involved in a conspiracy to defraud mortgage lenders by obtaining inflated loans on homes in Beverly Hills, Bel Air and Malibu.

The indictment alleges that Joseph, 54, and Kyle, 36, profited by collecting hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions and concealed payments.

The charges are part of an ongoing investigation being conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS-Criminal Investigation Division.

Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

‘They are innocent and look forward to vindicating themselves in court,’ says their lawyer.