Hector J. Martinez, 42, was charged after a months-long investigation into the alleged fraudulent sale of a blighted property on the 300 block of South 7th Street in Reading, the Berks County District Attorney’s Office said.
The investigation began in August 2024 after officials at the Berks County Treasurer’s Office found that the property still had unpaid back taxes, despite paperwork indicating it had been sold in June 2024 to a Limited Liability Corporation operated by Martinez, according to the DA’s release.
Detectives learned that the supposed grantor, whose signature appeared on the notarized deed dated June 11, 2024, had been deceased since April 2021. Her family said they had no knowledge of the sale, were unfamiliar with Martinez, and had not given him permission to access or remove anything from the property, investigators said…