Man behind alleged rental scheme arrested in Asia

DENVER - The man 9Wants to Know exposed for running one of the most sophisticated rental schemes in Colorado is under arrest after U.S. Marshals took him into custody in Malaysia and flew him to Los Angeles Friday night.

9Wants to Know has learned FBI agents in Denver are now investigating his rental scheme, and plan on presenting their findings to federal prosecutors in Colorado.

Gordon Miller has been on the run since 2005 when Utah federal prosecutors charged him with running a very similar scheme that took money from Utah residents. He's lived in Malaysia for at least the past nine months.

When 9Wants to Know showed U.S. Marshals in Utah that Miller was still running another operation in Colorado, U.S. Marshals worked with the State Department who revoked Miller's U.S. passport due to his fugitive status stemming from the 2005 case, according to Utah Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal Mike Wingert.

Without a valid passport, the Malaysian government picked him up on immigration violations, Wingert said. U.S. Marshal Deputies then took him into custody and flew him to Los Angeles.

Miller was set to appear in Los Angeles federal court Monday at 2:30 p.m. Denver Time. It is likely that Miller will then be brought to Utah to face his charges

9Wants to Know discovered Miller recently targeted Coloradans using the name Greg Castle. 9NEWS exposed how Miller/Castle searched bankruptcy records to find people having trouble paying their mortgage.

He then sent letters and left phone messages to convince those homeowners they had to move out of their homes. Several homeowners told 9Wants to Know they believed the letters and voicemail messages were coming from someone working on behalf of their mortgage companies. Once homeowners moved from the homes Miller put rental ads on Craigslist.

"I got a call from this Associated Management and he sounded legitimate," said Yvonne Araujo, who believes she was the first to fall for Castle's tactics in February.

Araujo filed for bankruptcy last year and expected to lose her house. She says her lawyer told her to wait for a call from her bank when her house went into foreclosure. He told her that wouldn't happen for four months, the typical time it takes a bank to foreclose.

Araujo got calls right away from the man who called himself Greg Castle.

"I thought he was working with the bank," Araujo said. "He kept asking me when I was going to vacate."

Araujo did what she thought her bank was asking. She moved out months before her scheduled foreclosure.

Kevin Potter then found an ad for Araujo's house on Craigslist. He signed a contract with Miller/Castle.

"Everything seemed legit. He faxed me over a lease agreement and I filled it out," Potter, a single dad with four kids, said. "He gave me the code to a lock box and I looked at the house. Everything seemed legit. How would he have the key to the house?"

Potter signed a four month lease with Miller/Castle. Everything was done over e-mail. Potter says he never met Miller/Castle.

When Araujo noticed Potter and his kids had moved in, she called her bank to ask why it rented her house.

"They said, 'We don't do that. I don't know what you are talking about. You need to call your local authorities,'" Araujo said.

Parker Police told Potter he was trespassing and had to leave. Potter was forced to pull his kids out of the neighborhood school and all five of them moved into his parents' mobile home in another part of town.

"They don't have a place to call home," an emotional Potter said as he wiped tears from his eyes. "I spent over $3,000 to get into a house that obviously wasn't his."

9Wants to Know discovered Potter and Araujo aren't the only people who unknowingly got involved with Miller/Castle

On Craigslist, 9NEWS discovered Castle listed at least 21 homes from the metro area and several in Florida, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas.

Homeowner after homeowner told 9NEWS Miller/Castle convinced them to sign an "Assignment of Surrender and Possession" document they thought was the final paperwork from their banks.

Some homeowners gave 9Wants to Know copies of the document. It looks official and asks questions about the condition of the home. In fine print at the bottom it says Associated Home Inspection, Miller/Castle's supposed company, has the right to take possession of the house and move new people in to "house sit" the property.

Miller/Castle collects the rent, homeowners don't get a cent. Lawyers say the document would never hold up in court as a legal contract.

"What this is, is a very clever plan to try to get people to pay him money for something he doesn't have the right to sell and that is the right to live in someone else's house," Denver attorney Andy Low said.

If you are a victim, the FBI asks you to give them a phone call at 303-629-7171.

To contact Jace Larson, call 303-871-1432 or e-mail jace.larson@9news.com.