A six-month investigation conducted by the Cape Coral Police Department Financial Crimes Unit related to the fraudulent sale of vacant land in Cape Coral culminated with the arrest of Edwin Eugune Swanson, of Houston, Texas.
The investigation by the Financial Crimes Unit found that between January 2020 and December 2020, Edwin Swanson was part of a scheme to defraud multiple victims of their property.
Detectives found that Swanson used the personal information of each landowner to impersonate them and attempt to, or successfully sell their vacant lots.
During this scheme, Swanson sold or attempted to sell multiple vacant lots that could have resulted in a loss of well over $100,000 to the victims. Due to his actions throughout this scheme, Swanson was able to sell a victim’s property and received the proceeds of the sale.
Detectives worked with local realtors and title companies to gather evidence.
After combing through voluminous amounts of records, Swanson was identified as a suspect. Cape Coral Police Department Detectives requested assistance from the Houston Police Department to gather additional evidence, which ultimately resulted in a warrant being issued for Swanson’s arrest by the State Attorney’s Office – 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida.
On July 14, 2021, Swanson was located by the United States Marshals Service in Houston, Texas and arrested on the outstanding warrant. He is currently incarcerated at the Montgomery County (Texas) Jail.
CHARGES: Grand Theft ($100,000 or more), F.S.S. 812.014(2)a(1) – 1st Degree Felony; Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information, F.S.S. 817.568(2)(b), 2nd Degree Felony; Criminal Use of Personal Identification Information, F.S.S. 817.568(2)(a), 3rd Degree Felony; Unlawful Filing of False Documents or Records against Real or Personal Property, F.S.S. 817.535(2)(a), 3rd Degree Felony
