The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Maupin" ...
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Special Report: Good Works, Fast Cash. Special Report: How Much Would You Pay?
Dixon spent three months following a chain of titles on hundreds of property deals and deeds. She found that several real-estate companies which contract with charities to evaluate and sell real estate donations on behalf of the charities are scramming the charities. Dixon found that " The company [Donate Real Estate] was selling property to associates of the founders, who then flipped, or resold the property, to buyers who paid many times the first purchase price. Those buyers then got mortgages based on inflated appraisals, didn't make their payments, and the homes went into foreclosure." The investigation unearthed a brazen and widespread real estate and mortgage fraud scheme that took advantage of novice investors.
Tags: real estate; fraud; scam; mortgage; Habitat For Humanity; charity; Donate Real Estate; MLS records; Maupin; bankruptcy
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Bob's Boys
Icon reports how one day Bob Maupin got sick of smugglers and immigrants invading his Texas backyard and decided to stop them. But a neighborhood watch that uses army surplus is an international incident. They've always had uninvited guests, but no more than a handful until October 1994, when President Clinton launched Operation Gatekeeper, a $50 million campaign to seal the San Diego - Tijuana border that doubled the station's number of Border Patrol staff. The INS knew that would steer traffic to the east. Illegal entries in the San Diego area have been sliced nearly in half since Gatekeeper began, but six months after its launch, apprehensions in Bob's neighborhood shot up 809 percent and inflated from 2,300 seizures in 1994 to 78,000 in 1996. "It's a war zone, nothing less." But the Border Patrol is scared that law enforcement is giving vigilantes a green light.
Tags: Immigrants; INS; vigilantes; neighborhood watch