Cesar Altieri Sayoc, the man arrested and charged by the U.S. Department of Justice on Friday with sending at least 13 packages containing explosive devices to leading Democrats and vocal anti-Trump critics including former President Obama, the Clintons, George Soros and actor Robert De Niro, had his Fort Lauderdale, Florida, home foreclosed on during the financial crisis, according to property tax records obtained by Inman.
Sayoc reportedly purchased the single-family home in 2006 for $400,000, according to records. It was foreclosed on by IndyMac Bank and transferred to PMG Mortgage and Lending Company in November 2009 for $166,500, according to the Broward County Property Appraiser’s Office, which referred to the transaction as a disqualified sale.
IndyMac Bank was later purchased by a group of investors – including current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin – when it failed during the recession and renamed OneWest Bank.
The lawyer who signed Sayoc’s foreclosure paperwork was Erica Johnson-Seck, according to The Chicago Tribune. Johnson-Seck was at the center of OneWest’s so-called “robo-signing” scandal, where banks electronically signed documents without checking for accuracy causing individuals to lose their homes without proper procedures, according to The Chicago Tribune.
After mail inspectors discovered the explosives in packages sent for various famous U.S. liberal figures in politics and entertainment in recent days, Sayoc, 56, was charged on Friday with interstate transportation of an explosive, illegal mailing of explosives, threats against former presidents and certain other persons, threatening interstate communications and assaulting federal offices.
“This is utterly unacceptable,” Attorney General Jeff Sessions said today. “Political violence – or the threat of violence – is antithetical to our vigorous system of self-government. It is a threat to that respect for law and process that allows our people to accept legislation, elections, and court rulings with which we do not agree.”
Police were able to identify Sayoc from a fingerprint left on one of the devices, according to the Justice Department. Sayoc faces up to 48 years in prison for sending the explosives, which did not detonate.
Sayoc filed for bankruptcy in 2012, according to CNN and has been arrested multiple times dating back to the 1990s, including one incident where he threatened to bomb the utility corporation Florida Power and Light Co.
In Sayoc’s bankruptcy filing, he claimed to have a monthly income of $1,083.33 and more than $21,000 in debt. He claimed no assets other than a 2001 Chevy Tahoe Mileage with 285,000 miles and stated that he had no furniture and lived with his mother.
