Betty Loren-Maltese's Old House Sells For $87K At Auction
CICERO, Ill. (CBS) -- The home once owned by former Cicero Town President Betty Loren-Maltese has been sold in a federal foreclosure auction for a mere $87,000.
Loren-Maltese says federal authorities did not do much with the three-bedroom, bath-and-a-half brick bungalow at 3818 S. Austin Blvd. in Cicero, since they seized it upon her 2002 conviction for a $12 million insurance scam.
"Look at the overgrown landscaping, the weeds in the back – it's not maintained the way I would," Loren-Maltese said before the auction.
LISTEN: Newsradio 780's John Cody reports
Podcast
The auction in the crowded, overheated front room of the tan brick bungalow became a bidding war between Loren-Maltese neighbor Mike Wolf, and Cicero resident Manuel Valadez, who wanted the home for his family of five.
Valadez wouldn't budge off $86,000, and Wolf won with a bid of $87,000.
Maltese said she once had the house appraised at $300,000. She said she was at least hoping it would fetch $100,000.
Wolf told reporters that at $87,000, he got a very good deal. He said it should shape up just fine with just a little work.
In her federal criminal trial, prosecutors said president Loren-Maltese let Specialty Risk Management process all Cicero employee insurance claims for a 30 percent commission, which was funneled to mob boss Rocky Infelise.
Maltese served seven years, but maintained she never did anything wrong.
After being released last year, she had to move into a tiny one-bedroom apartment in the south suburbs, surviving on a small widow's pension.
She has been seeking to have her conviction overturned, in hopes of regaining custody of her teenage daughter, Ashley, who lives with Loren-Maltese's estranged sister in Alabama.
