P.M. BRIEFING : Vineyard Broker Jailed for Fraud
A prominent real estate broker on Martha’s Vineyard was sentenced to five years in prison for fraudulently collecting nearly half a million dollars in deposits for oceanfront properties.
State police said Judith C. Strimel, 41, took $485,000 in deposits from September, 1986, to January, 1989, for three waterfront homes in Edgartown, some of which, like the home of Washington Post Co. Chairman Katharine Graham, were not for sale.
The money was later transferred from escrow to business accounts at Strimel’s firm, Avery and Co., of Edgartown.
Slumping sales prompted the fraud, said Richard Piazza, assistant district attorney for the Cape and the Islands.
“The business took a downturn, and her lifestyle didn’t,” Piazza said.
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