D.C. Man Sentenced in Bold Real Estate Scam

Forger Gets 12 1/2 Years in Prison for Stealing from the Dead

Duane McKinney possessed a keen talent for turning distressed properties into amazing profits. But his success had nothing to do with investment savvy.

All it took was a pen.

Federal prosecutors say McKinney, who was sentenced yesterday to 12 1/2 years in federal prison, operated one of the most audacious real estate scams in recent history.

During a three-year period, he pocketed more than $700,000 by forging the names of property owners -- most of them dead -- onto deeds and then selling the rundown houses, apartment buildings and vacant lots, prosecutors say.

In all, McKinney stole more than $1 million in property. Most of the property in the District and Maryland belonged to heirs of working-class residents, including firefighters, clerks and teachers, and had been in their families for generations.

Convicted in April of mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and theft, McKinney, 36, of Northeast, received a prison term two years longer than recommended under federal guidelines. Such stiff punishment was warranted, U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton said, because McKinney was an incorrigible offender who operated a sophisticated scheme. He has been arrested more than 30 times and was convicted of pointing a gun at a 2-year-old's head in 1990, Walton said.

Even after he was indicted in 2007, McKinney tried to obtain a $100,000 mortgage on one of the stolen properties, Walton noted.

Federal prosecutors portrayed McKinney as a ruthless crook who told buyers that their purchases would help benefit a nonprofit group that assists disadvantaged children.

"The defendant lacks a moral compass," Assistant U.S. Attorney Virginia Cheatham said.

She said the sales funded an "extravagant lifestyle" that included the purchase of two BMWs and a Mercedes-Benz. Authorities caught on to McKinney when an Arlington County police officer stopped to help after one of McKinney's BMWs broke down on Washington Boulevard in June 2005. He was arrested on a warrant for failing to appear in court. In the car's trunk, police found $159,000 stuffed in a duffle bag.

Soon, authorities were digging into records on 14 properties with forged deeds turning them over to McKinney between 2003 and 2006.

Authorities said McKinney's ruse was relatively simple.