U.S. District Judge Henry Autrey sentenced Arondo Harris to time in federal prison on Jan. 12, 2022. Harris was convicted by a jury in May of six counts of identity theft in connection with Harris’ filing of counterfeit quit claim deeds with the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Office.
When property located in St. Louis, Mo., is to be transferred through a quit claim deed, the grantor, the current owner of the property, and the grantee, the future owner of the property, must sign the quit claim deed, and their signatures must be authenticated by a licensed notary public.
According to court documents, between Jan. 9, 2019, and Feb. 6, 2019, Harris presented to the St. Louis Recorder of Deeds Office three quit claim deeds that contained the forged signatures of the properties’ true owners. Each of the forged signatures had had been falsely authenticated through the seal and forged signature of a licensed notary public. The property owners of one of the residences had died prior to the forgery of their signatures.
As a result of the false notarization of the quit claim deeds, representatives of the Recorders Office accepted the deeds as legitimate and falsely recorded Harris as the owner of three residences located in St. Louis.
The court determined Harris’ conduct resulted in losses of more than $150,000 to the legitimate owners of the properties. It also determined Harris caused substantial financial hardship to one of the victims because that individual was left homeless by the fraudulent activities.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service and was prosecuted based upon a referral by the Circuit Attorney’s Office for the City of St. Louis.