Crime & Safety

More Details Released on FBI Raid of Elias Real Estate

Federal housing officials have released additional information on the searches of the Brighton and Livonia offices in February.

The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Freddie Mac, unsealed documents Monday that shed some light onto why the FBI raided Elias Real Estate and Financial Services at both its Brighton and Livonia locations in February.

According to an article in the Press & Argus, the documents state that the FBI was investigating Elias's January 2012 actions for supposedly operating a "buy and bail" scheme.

>>Read more about the supposed scheme in the Press & Argus.

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Elias said in February that the FBI search was a surprise to him.

As Brighton Patch previously reported, Elias Real Estate released a statement in February that speculated that the executed search warrants stem from problems with Freddie Mac, which began last year because of the number of successful short sale business the company has done.

Find out what's happening in Brightonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to the statement, Elias and Elias Realty filed a complaint against Freddie Mac in January for what it says was unfair competition and business and personal defamation after Freddie Mac placed Elias on its exclusionary list.


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