Wayne and Greta Albritton are the type of people you wish were member's of your family. They own dogs. They worked hard in the Las Vegas entertainment industry, owned bars and restaurants, performed in shows, bought a cabin for investment, and eventually decided to move to Palm Springs, CA. A great life and a relaxing retirement on the horizon.
If you call performing in the Palm Springs Follies retirement.
The Albrittons decided to sell their cabin in Nevada and purchase an investment property closer to their Palm Springs home. All was well. They closed on the sale of the Cabin in early December, identified a replacement property and were scheduled to close on the replacement purchase January 26, 2007.
Little did they know using Southwest 1031 Exchange would possibly destroy their retirement dreams.
As January 26 approached, Southwest 1031 Exchange was contacted by the title company and by the Albrittons in an attempt to determine when the $433,000 from the sale of their cabin would be wired to the title company in Palm Springs. Eventually on January 26, Wayne reached Don McGhan and was assured he was walking across the street to the bank and taking care of it immediately. This was 11:00 a.m. that Friday morning. Don McGhan faxed a copy of the wire transfer to the Albrittons. Wayne and Greta left for work.
Later that afternoon at 2:27 p.m., Don McGhan left a message on their answering machine. He said there was a screw up with the coordination of the wire transfer and it would happen the next Monday morning and not to get other people involved.
Wayne and Greta are not stupid. They knew something was wrong. The drove to Las Vegas and went to Southwest 1031 that Monday morning to get to the bottom of the situation. No one was able to tell them what was going on or what to do so they went across the street to the bank.
Silver State Bank was the bank where Southwest 1031 conducted business. Wayne asked for the manager and showed her the 'receipt' for the wire transfer. He was told they could not help them. Frustrated, eventually Wayne and Greta left. They returned to Southwest 1031 and made no headroom there.
Today, the Albritton's don't know what happened to their money. They had to cancel the purchase contract in Palm Springs and face tax implications on the $433,000. They don't know how this is going to end or if they will ever see their retirement nest egg again.
This is what I know...I've seen the 'receipt' for the wire transfer. It is not a receipt but a print of an input screen at the bank. Did Don McGhan have access to the secure wire transfer functions at the bank? Did someone at the bank assist him in creating this false document? I can only hope one of the investigators involved in this asks these questions.
Many people were damaged in this. Their dreams now seem lost forever. They deserve help and they deserve answers. If you have any information or would like to share your story, please contact me.
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