Man Held in Real Estate Scam Released on Bail

A Los Angeles man accused of making tens of thousands of dollars by tricking homeowners into signing away title to their homes was released on $50,000 bail Wednesday after proving that the bail money did not come from any allegedly ill-gotten gains.

An attorney for Gary L. Palmer told Municipal Judge David M. Horwitz that Palmer’s mother, a retired county nurse, used her savings to post the bail.

Palmer faces eight felony counts of grand theft and four counts of forgery stemming from a real estate scam in which he allegedly forged property deeds to transfer title into a straw buyer’s name then took out loans on the properties.

Palmer was the subject of an Oct. 15 Times article on questionable real estate deals in which homeowners throughout Los Angeles County have lost title to their homes. Most of the victims are elderly or unsophisticated homeowners who bought their properties years ago, have all but paid them off and have substantial equity.

Though charges were filed against him in August, Palmer was a fugitive until turning himself in last week. He has pleaded not guilty. A preliminary hearing was set for Jan. 8.

In an earlier telephone interview, Palmer, 24, denied the charges against him and said he had been “set up.”

Because Palmer’s alleged crimes made money, Deputy Dist. Atty. Pamela J. Gelman used a provision of the state penal code to require that the defendant show that the money used for his defense is not “tainted.” Gelman said Wednesday she was satisfied that the money was posted by Palmer’s mother.