Indy Attorney General sues unlicensed Indy real estate manager, allegedly duped investors

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita has sued an Indianapolis man and the businesses he owns over alleged fraud towards investors, a news release said.

Rokita alleges that Herbert Whalen managed property for investors, despite not having a real estate broker license. Rokita also argues that Whalen withheld information about his previous convictions. Apart from Whalen, Rokita is suing the following companies:

MBNS LLC

MBNS Invest LLC

My Bricks and Sticks LLC—which is now dissolved.

“Our office has made it clear that when you break the law, we will hold you accountable,” Attorney General Rokita said. “Real estate investors and tenants should be able to trust that their property managers have the knowledge and skills necessary to protect their investments and their homes.”

In 2018, Whalen pled guilty to a conspiracy to defraud real estate investors in Oceanpointe Investments. Here, Whalen instructed investors to purchase properties in poor condition. As stated in the news release, repairs would be made to these properties. After that was completed, investors would receive both lease copies and rent payments.

This never actually happened for many Oceanpointe properties, the news release said. They were never cleaned up and therefore, the investors never received a return on investment. According to the report, Whalen then had Oceanpointe employees create fake leases stating that the properties had been rented out. The entire time, though, they were empty.

According to the lawsuit, despite his guilty plea, Whalen continued to defraud investors—now under the alias “Herb Francis”. The lawsuit states that none of Whalen’s LLCs or other entities maintain a broker license.

Hoosiers are encouraged to contact the Office of the Indiana Attorney General about any suspected scams or scam attempts. Consumers can file a complaint by visiting indianaconsumer.com or calling 1-800-382-5516.