Friday, November 03, 2017

Former Albuquerque HOA President charged with embezzlement, forgery | KRQE News 13

Former Albuquerque HOA President charged with embezzlement, forgery | KRQE News 13: "Desiree Pepin, former president of the Los Colinas Homeowners Association, was arraigned on felony embezzlement and forgery charges more than three years after her neighbors took their case to Bernalillo County Sheriff’s detectives.

“It’s an excellent paper trail we have, we figured it’d be wrapped up pretty quickly, so it was extra frustrating when they kept stringing us along and not doing anything,” explained Konrad Dzula, current President of the Los Colinas HOA.

According to a civil complaint, as HOA President from 2002 to 2014, Pepin collected $30 membership dues from residents each month. Eventually, neighbors said they started receiving invoices with added fees.

“There was a pattern of this for like about six months where we would go from owing $30 to $180 and we didn’t know why,” said Matt Angel, who also lives in the subdivision...Online court records show this isn’t the first time Pepin’s been in trouble. Court records show she was convicted of forgery, fraud, and filing false insurance claims in 2003.

Court records also show Pepin was on probation, ordered to pay restitution to insurance companies during the same time she served as HOA president."

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People who didn't pay the bogus charges were threatened with liens and legal action, of course. And of course the residents who were being bilked had to move heaven and earth for three years to get a criminal case brought.