Veteran Republican operative Roger Stone is yet again in the crosshairs of the Department of Justice, this time over after a questionable mortgage deal that is the centerpiece of an ongoing civil case which alleges he owes millions in back taxes.
"The government's complaint lays out a complicated scheme. It describes the condo purchase as an overt act of fraud, and claims a right to seize the property. Essentially, prosecutors say, Stone and his wife Nydia used $140,000 from a private company they already held (Drake Ventures) for a down payment on a condo," The Daily Beast reported on Friday. "Picking up the rest of the tab—almost exactly $400,000—was a mortgage lender."
The lender who provided Stone the loan in question spoke to the outlet and said they had been misled, adding that they "likely wouldn't have granted the loan if he had known the full picture."
Former IRS criminal investigator Martin Sheil cast doubt upon the idea that any lender could overlook the Stone's hefty legal problems, let alone miss them entirely while researching a potential deal.
"For this transaction, I'd use the term 'shady.' I don't know why anybody would loan them money," Sheil said. "The ignorance is profound, and I almost can't believe what you're telling me."
A lawyer representing Stone responded to the news, arguing that "nothing whatsoever improper" occurred. Following the publication of the Beast's story, the self-described "dirty-trickster" took aim at Roger Sollenberger, the Daily Beast reporter who penned the original piece.
"The trail of smears from the haters at the Daily Beast continue. There was nothing improper or illegal with my wife's down payment on a small condominium where she could live if I was railroaded to prison. Now Roger Sollenberger is attacking a woman battling stage four cancer," Stone wrote on the far-right social media site Gab. "Too many outrageous falsehoods in this piece to address here," he added, without citing a single one of those falsehoods.
Stone didn't return a Salon request for comment.
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