A Detroit man has been convicted on 11 criminal counts, including forgery, embezzlement and money laundering for trying to sell a church building he didn't own as an investment property.
After a four-day jury trial, Tracy Carmichael was found guilty for a fraudulent scheme to obtain an over $149,000 mortgage on a church property located on 11731 Mount Elliot, Detroit.
Between May and June, 2007, Carmichael allegedly offered to sell the Temple of God Deliverance Mount Elliot property as an investment property. He promised to handle all of the paperwork, manage the property and give the victim of his scheme the payments for the mortgage company. She later discovered that all documents conveying the property to her were false. The rightful owners never authorized Carmichael to sell the property and discovered their signatures were forged on the documents.
"Here's a man with a moral compass so low he schemed to sell a house of worship," said Wayne County Sheriff Benny Napoleon. "Now the woman is out of $120,000 and the congregation is on the street. Nothing can restore these individuals the pain and anguish they've suffered, but knowing he's facing some hard time behind bars is at least some consolation."
Carmichael is currently in the Wayne County jail awaiting sentencing on January 5, 2009.
