Update: Wilkes-Barre Newspaper Picks Up Story of Forfeiture

Latest Update (9:10 pm): Senior Assistant Commonwealth Attorney Scott Alleman has now cleared up any confusion about whether or not the Virginia RICO charges could still be pursued at a later date. Responding by email this evening, he says, "Criminal charges are still a possibility, but we thought that the murder in PA obviously took precedence so we will wait until the PA trial is over to make a decision about charges."

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The Citizens' Voice newspaper in Wilkes-Barre has apparently noticed the tale of how Virginia grabbed hold of Harlow Cuadra’s and Joe Kerekes’ assets and gave them a good shake, a story you first read here last month.

The paper’s Sunday edition quotes a lawyer from the Virginia Commonwealth Attorney’s office: “This is all stuff we seized in accordance to our criminal investigation here,” said [Senior Assistant] Scott Alleman, the attorney who prosecuted the forfeiture case.”

Cuadra’s lawyer was also questioned regarding the house at 1028 Stratem Court: “It’s unknown how much, if any, profit the two could get for their home, but it will be better than nothing, said Cuadra’s attorney Scott Flax, of Virginia Beach, who handled the forfeiture process.“It helps,” he said. “They’ll have an asset to sell to get some money.”

Alleman disagrees, indicating that “the duo was given back possession of their home’s title because it would have been an expensive and lengthy process to take it and there was a hefty mortgage left to pay."

Asked about the so-called conspiracy to deny Cuadra and Kerekes money to retain lawyers in their murder case, Alleman flatly denied it.

“The reason we didn’t file charges in Virginia is because the murder in Pennsylvania took precedent. We didn’t want to get in the way of Pennsylvania,” he said.

There’s no word on whether those Virginia charges are just on hold, or whether they won’t be pursued at all.

-KM

Harlow's House Redux & Some Serious Charges

Harlow Cuadra’s self-appointed ‘Angel of Truth’ has now confirmed what we reported here two weeks ago: that the Commonwealth of Virginia has decided to stop forfeiture proceedings on the house Cuadra owned along with fellow murder suspect Joe Kerekes.



At the time of that earlier story, there were angry denials from Cuadra’s former ‘bloggist,’ but today a new spokesperson for Cuadra posted the following to HarlowCuadraOnline.com: “The Document for them [Cuadra and Kerekes] to get the house has been signed by both Harlow and Joe, but needless to say they are loosing [sic.] all of there [sic.] other property to get back this one thing, the state refused to give them back anything else....

“We will hope that the house will sell for something to help pay anything to the attorneys, anything is better then nothing!”

As we reported in July, the house may indeed be worth less than nothing. Publicly available credit records show that, as of now, Harlow and Joe owe approximately $533,400 in primary and second mortgages on the 1028 Stratem Court property. Those records also indicate that primary mortgage payment is 30 days past due, while the second mortgage payment is 60 days overdue.

Clearly, only a quick sale at a premium price will turn the house from a liability to an asset. That’s why the house was to be returned, according to law enforcement sources, speaking last month on condition of anonymity— there is “little, to no equity” in it.

In today’s long statement, the Harlow camp makes other remarkable comments, as well, including sharp criticisms leveled at Virginia authorities for their handling of the forfeiture case, and another utterly outrageous allegation: that the incomplete forfeiture proceedings led to a Catch 22 wherein Harlow and Joe were somehow adjudged too wealthy to qualify for public defenders in the murder case in Pennsylvania, yet still had all of their assets in state hands in Virginia, thus unavailable for use retaining private counsel.

That latter charge of denial of counsel is a serious one— as such a combined action by the Commonwealths of Pennsylvania and Virginia would be, of course, in total contravention of all court rules, procedures, laws and Constitutional precepts. Such a move by the State—on its own— could constitute reversible error in the Pennsylvania prosecution.

In fact, the ‘Angel’s’ allegation describes a move so extreme and so far outside of ordinary legal practice that one is perhaps excused for wondering if he or she is not somehow mistaken about it.

-Both PC and KM contributed to this story.

The Prosecutor's Heuristic

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07/11/2007 Forfeiture Hearing was removed from the docket... complete items list:

There was no hearing today in regards to the forfeiture case against Harlow Cuadra & Joseph Kerekes as it was removed from the docket.

The hearing was removed from the docket today because the Commonwealth Attorney has not heard back from Harlow & Joe's attorney's. Another date will once again be set, unless a settlement is reached.

Here's a complete list of items seized for forfeiture ( Case: CL07003398-00 ):

HP 19" LCD COMPUTER MONITOR
DELL LASER PRINTER
DELL 15" LCD COMPUTER MONITOR
APPLE IPOD 80 GB
APPLE MAC PRO 3 COMPUTER
APPLE SEMA 30" HD MONITOR
TOSHIBA LAPTOP W/CASE
$26,585.25 U.S. CURRENCY
SONY CAMCORDER W/CASE
ZENITH 50" PLASMA TV
2 GOLD/DIAMOND CROSSES
KOGI LCD COMPUTER MONITOR
LIQUID VIDEO 15" LCD COMPUTER MONITOR
BOSE MEDIA CENTER
2 BOSE SURROUND SOUND SPEAKERS
2 POLK AUDIO SURROUND SOUND SPEAKERS
VOLK RACING RIMS SET OF 4
HONDA S-2000 HOOD
HONDA S-2000 FENDERS (2)
HONDA S-2000 SPOILER
HONDA S-2000 AIR FOIL
HONDA S-2000 SEAT
HONDA S-2000 CAR COVER
BRAVO DVD BURNER
ONKYO RECEIVER
ONKYO 6-DISC CD CHANGER
CANNON EOS DIGITAL CAMERA W/ CASE
CANNON DIGITAL CAMERA
LOUIS VUITTON BAG
GOLD BRACELET
2 GOLD CHAINS
1 PAIR GOLD CUFF LINKS
OMEGA SEAMASTER STAINLESS STEEL WATCH
TAG HEUER MONZA STAINLESS STEEL/LEATHER WATCH

Note: The $26,585.25 US Currency listed is a combination of money they had on their person, in their house, and in the bank. Actual bank names are not listed in seizure filings.

This does not include items that may have been seized for the criminal case in PA.