Seven Buncombe County properties valued at an estimated $529,500 have been returned to their rightful owner following criminal convictions in a real estate fraud case involving forged deeds and unauthorized notarizations.
According to the case investigation, the victim’s adoptive nephew, Kevin West, forged the victim’s signature on quitclaim deeds and used the documents to transfer ownership of the properties. West also used the aliases Rabbi Amir Moshe Lee Al Khaiat.
West’s father, Dana West, presented the forged deeds to Whittni Griffin, a notary public he knew. Griffin notarized the documents without the victim being present, violating state notary requirements…