A Two Thousand Dollar Nebraska Land Purchase Leads to a Federal Fraud Case
I wiped my palms on my trousers, trying to clear away the black motor oil that seemed to cling to my skin. I took the paper from him.
It was a letterhead that read Meadowbrook Land Holdings, stamped with a heavy round emblem that looked like an official county seal. When I rubbed my thumb over the ink, the paper was completely flat. Under the glare of the shop light, the edges of the seal showed the tiny, jagged dots of a cheap photocopy.
“They say my pasture runoff is violating some neighborhood drainage code,” Mr. Duca said, spitting onto the dirt outside the sill. “They want four hundred dollars to clear the record.”
“This seal isn’t real,” I said, pointing to the fuzzy black borders. “It is a copy of a copy.”
“Maybe so,” Mr. Duca said, his voice dropping. “But she told me she has three lawyers in Lincoln on retainer. I cannot afford to find out if she is bluffing.”
“She showed up at my gate last Tuesday,” Mr. Duca said. “Had that same leather binder. Said if I didn’t pay, she’d file a lien with the county and stop my cattle sales.”
