The United States Attorney’s Office has taken on the prosecution of Charles H. Landwer, Jr., for (to quote Daily Herald reporters Rob Olmstead and Chuck Keeshan) “scamming the elderly and the unsuspecting out of their homes and property.”

$2.4 million from 17 people, many senior citizens.

Landwer has a long history of run-ins with the law, which you can read in the Daily Herald story. He now operates out of Bloomingdale as Accurate Financial Group.

Two federal criminal complaints were filed by Vick Lombardo, Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent. He is a ten-year agent who “investigate(s) criminal violations of federal bank and wire fraud statute.”

The short one says,

“…for the purpose of executing a scheme to defraud and attempting to do so, (Landwer) knowingly caused to be transmitted in interstate commerce by wire communication from American Mortgage Network in San Diego, California, to the Private Bank and Trust Company in Chicago, Illinois, certain signs, signals and sounds, namely: approximately $230,522.38 from the fraudulent refinance of Victim KD and ED’s house in Yorkville, Illinois.”

Here’s one charge from the 10-pager:

“as early as September 2002, CHARLES H. LANDWER, JR., defrauded at least 17 individuals of more than $2,400,000 in personal funds and home sale proceeds.”

Landwer is charged with not only basically, stealing the financially troubled couple’s Yorkvill home, but then having the nerve to hound them for $50,000 more, plus $12,812 in rent. (You really have to read it to believe the boldness of this flim-flam man.)

Locally, according to the Northwest Herald reporter Jillian Duchnowski, he “bilked an elderly Huntley woman out of more than $350,000 have been rolled into a federal fraud case” and was set to go to trial three days from now.

The NW Herald says the guy is from Bartlett, but the FBI says the search warrant was for a Barrington Shores unit.