An FBI Boston warning about a rise in quit claim deed fraud closely resembles a civil case involving a Boston Water and Sewer Commission HR director who is alleged to have worked with relatives to swindle her elderly uncle out of his home.
The similarity has not gone unnoticed, according to Ricardo Arroyo, an ex-Boston city councilor and attorney representing the elderly man who filed suit against Marie Theodat, chief human resource officer at the Water and Sewer Commission, and three other relatives who are alleged to have been involved in the scheme.
“We did see it, and we do believe that the facts of this case fit squarely into what is described in that release by the FBI,” Arroyo told the Herald.
One of three scenarios highlighted by the FBI is “family members, often the elderly, targeted by their own relatives and close associates who convince them to transfer the property into their own name for their own financial gain.”
The family of Rodolph St. Cloud, the elderly man who alleged that he fell victim to a similar scheme in an August 2024 civil lawsuit, is considering filing a formal complaint with the FBI for quit claim deed fraud — as a result of the release that was sent out by the federal agency this week, the Herald has learned.
The FBI Boston release warned of a rise in such fraud which it said is also known as home title theft and “involves fraudsters who forge documents to record a phony transfer of ownership.”
“Criminals can then sell either the vacant land or home, take out a mortgage on it, or even rent it out to make a profit, forcing the real owners to head to court to reclaim their property,” the FBI release states.
Of the four states included in the FBI Boston Division, Massachusetts had far more reported victims —1,576 who lost roughly $46.26 million — than Maine, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.
“Folks across the region are having their roots literally pulled out from under them and are being left with no place to call home,” Jodi Cohen, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division, said in a statement. “They’re suffering deeply personal losses that have inflicted a significant financial and emotional toll, including shock, anger, and even embarrassment.
“We are urging the public to heed this warning and to take proactive steps to avoid losing your property,” Cohen added. “Anyone who is a victim of this type of fraud should report it to us.”
The Suffolk Superior Court lawsuit filed by St. Cloud’s attorney alleges that Theodat worked with relatives, including her sister Danny Levy to swindle their elderly and dementia-ridden uncle, St. Cloud, out of his $1.1 million Dorchester home.
The complaint alleges that Theodat, who made $202,873 with the Boston Water and Sewer Commission last year and is on paid administrative leave, “fraudulently induced” the nearly 90-year-old St. Cloud to sign over the deed to his longtime home under the “guise” that he was signing documents related to his medical care.
The property was conveyed for “less than $100” to 144 LLC, an entity named after the address of the home and managed, per the lawsuit, by Theodat; her sister Danny Levy, chief customer and employee experience officer for the MBTA; Levy’s husband Wayne Levy, chief of staff at the quasi-public agency Massachusetts Life Sciences Center; and another relative Harcher Batrival.
“Rodolph St. Cloud does not read or speak English and as such relied on Marie A. Theodat to translate and interpret for him,” the 2024 lawsuit states. “Mr. St. Cloud was also afflicted with dementia at this time of the signing and did not have the mental capacity to understand or execute a transfer.”
Of the listed defendants, only Batrival responded to a Herald request for comment on the potential of a formal fraud complaint being lodged with the FBI.
“Given that this is an ongoing legal case, I’m not able to comment at this time,” Batrival said in a text message. “I do want to emphasize that I take the situation seriously and intend to address the allegations appropriately through the legal process.”
Theodat described the lawsuit as “fraudulent” in a brief phone call with the Herald last year, while Danny and Wayne Levy have denied at least part of the allegations in separate court filings.
If St. Cloud’s family were to refer a complaint to the FBI, it would be at least the third referral in the civil case, according to the lawsuit, which states that the offices of Massachusetts Attorney General and the Suffolk County District Attorney are “investigating these criminal acts.”
The AG’s office has previously said that it would not confirm, deny, nor comment on the existence of an investigation, while the Suffolk DA’s office said it doesn’t handle civil cases.
The lawsuit outlines a series of events where all relatives listed in the suit benefited from the “fraudulent scheme,” which deprived St. Cloud and his roughly 90-year-old life partner, Marthe Jeudi, of “record ownership of the property” and divested them of “hundreds of thousands of dollars in equity.”
Jeudi has “advanced mental deficiency due to Alzheimer’s” and resides in an assisted care facility. St. Cloud was listed as the record owner of the Dorchester home, 144 Fuller St., since March of 1989, and is now facing eviction proceedings in Massachusetts Land Court, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that on the same day Theodat obtained the “quitclaim deed fraudulently conveying the property to 144 Fuller LLC,” Boston Trust Finance LLC, a subsidiary of the private lender Boston Trust, granted a commercial mortgage and security agreement worth more than $2 million against the property to 144 Fuller LLC.
The mortgage secured by Theodat using 144 Fuller St. was used to secure the mortgage on 1806 Beacon St., a Waban home owned by Danny and Wayne Levy, “which had been foreclosed, then purchased at a subsequent foreclosure sale, by Theodat around the same time, the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit is slowly making its way through the court system. The last docket movement was a motion to dismiss filed on March 28 by Theodat. The filing states St. Cloud “does not have the legal capacity to bring this action on his own behalf.”
“It was filed improperly and has no merit,” Arroyo said. “We intend to have an opposition filed through the proper channels to address that.”
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