Crime fighters fall prey to pitch [Central Florida]

Crime fighters fall prey to pitch [Central Florida]

Crime fighters fall prey to pitch

As many as a dozen Orange County sheriff’s employees, including a top administrator, believed so strongly in an investment venture that they never questioned it or its executives.

Despite years of law-enforcement experience and exposure to scam alerts and fraud investigations, they got bilked, federal officials say.

Along with at least 100 other people, some of the deputies were told they could invest in a newly converted condo unit and not have to make mortgage payments for two years. Others bought into real-estate-investment trusts that promised to earn them double-digit returns on their cash.