Watchdog suspicious of Meeks' home sale

From the NY Post:

A watchdog group is asking federal prosecutors to examine a real-estate deal involving Rep. Gregory Meeks.

The Queens Democrat sold his Far Rockaway home in 2006 to a buyer with dubious qualifications who used a lawyer later convicted in a multimillion-dollar mortgage-fraud scheme, according to the National Legal and Policy Center.

The Virginia-based group contends that buyer Cecil Lloyd had an income of just $9,895 the year he bought the house for $402,800.

Lloyd and Evelyn Miller secured two mortgages from IndyMac Bank to buy the home at 660 Grassmere Terrace. They financed 100 percent of the purchase price, city records show.

Ten months later, in July 2007, Alexander Kaplan, the buyers’ lawyer who handled their closing, was arrested in a mortgage-fraud scheme.

Kaplan was convicted of 18 counts of mortgage fraud and sentenced in June to 46 months in federal prison.

The NLPC also alleges that the sale price of the home, at $413 per square foot, was inflated. The average was $326 at the time, a local Realtor said.

Meeks said he was unaware of a complaint about the sale.