Yountville couple faces charges for property sale

By MARSHA DORGAN
Register Staff Writer

The Yountville couple charged with selling property that did not belong to them were in court this week.

John Greerty and his wife, Anita Greerty, both 68, are to scheduled to go to trial on May 19.

John Greerty is charged with three counts of grand theft of personal property, one count of identity theft, three counts of second-degree commercial burglary, two counts of money laundering, one count of attempted grand theft, one count of receiving stolen property, special allegations of aggravated white collar crime and excess loss of more than $150,000.

His wife is charged with one count each of identity theft, possession of stolen property and money laundering.

Last September, the couple allegedly stole the identification of the real owner of 11 acres of property in Yountville. Using his identification, they sold his property to three separate buyers, according to court documents.

Two of the deals went through, and one did not. The total amount of money obtained by the Greertys was about $745,000.

Because the couple took the money to a financial institution to deposit, they were charged with money laundering.

Greerty also had his name legally changed to the name of the real property owner.

The scam came to the attention of authorities when it was discovered the signatures on some of the legal documents of the real estate transactions did not match.

The sheriff’s department was notified. A search warrant was served at Greerty’s home in the 6500 block of Finnell Road, just outside of the city limits of Yountville.

During the search, detectives not only found identification belonging to the real property owner, they also found drugs that had been prescribed for him.

The Greertys are out on bail after posting a property bond.

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