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A Charlotte lawyer Thursday filed a second federal suit in a case alleging sweeping real estate fraud in Eastern North Carolina.
Defendants include Charlotte-area developers Randy and Gary Allen and their companies, as well as Bank of America and the former Wachovia Corp.
The suit comes two weeks after Virginia lawyers filed a similar suit on behalf of 130 Virginia residents in what some say could be one of the largest mortgage fraud cases in state history.
“We are going to aggressively pursue our clients' best interests,” said Charlotte attorney John O'Connor, who filed the complaint in federal court in Raleigh on behalf of 48 clients. “We feel they've been damaged significantly.”
Most of O'Connor's clients live in Virginia though some come from as far as Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.
The suits claim a group of companies fooled defendants into paying prices artificially swollen by fraudulent appraisals. Some of the inflated appraisals, they claim, were built upon multiple fake sales of the same lot.
Among the defendants are Randy Allen's R.A North Development of Matthews and his brother Gary Allen's Southeastern Waterfront Marketing of Waxhaw.
The suit alleges fraud at properties including Cannonsgate in Carteret County. Former Gov. Mike Easley – who is not named in the suit – bought a lot there in 2005 in what critics called a sweetheart deal.
While his purchase was pending, Easley appointed Randy Allen to the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
