Detroit businessman ordered to pay $1 million in land dispute

Detroit ― A Wayne County Circuit Court judge on Tuesday ordered a Detroit businessman to pay $1 million for selling a property he did not own, concluding a four-year-long dispute.

Judge Leslie Smith ordered Robert Carmack to pay $1 million in relation to a quiet title action. Carmack, who is embroiled in a public feud with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, was previously accused by the administration of "stealing" the million-dollar property in southwest Detroit's Delray neighborhood.

In October 1961, the city of Detroit became the owner of the property in contention at 7751 Melville Ave. in Detroit.

Authorities say Carmack never completed a $250,000 purchase of the site but used draft documents from 2007 to fraudulently represent that he owned the land before selling it in 2016 for $1 million.

Last year, Carmack four charges against him were dropped in connection with the sale that carried a 14-year prison sentence.

"By harmonizing the language of the deed, whereby Carmack would pay $250,000 and the city would convey ownership of the property to him, the intent of the parties was never fulfilled," Smith said. "Carmack's only arguments relate to bare allegations of dishonesty, which again, have no bearing on the operation of the deed at issue in this case. Thus, the court denies Carmack's motion and finds the motion to be meritless."

Carmack, who spoke earlier Tuesday at the City Council's formal session during public comment about dishonesty in city leadership, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Carmack filed an affidavit for lost documents in September 2012 "under the guise of B&C Land Development, recorded in the Wayne County Register of Deeds," according to the court documents. He alleged a documented misrepresentation that in June 2007, he purchased the property from the city of Detroit and that the city needed to correct the purchaser's name.

In 2007, a City Council resolution authorized the director of Planning and Development Department to execute a purchase agreement, a quitclaim deed, and any other documents to sell the Melville property for $250,000 to Carmack. The department sent a copy of the fully executed deed and closing documents to Carmack for review prior to closing. The closing was scheduled for October 2007, but it never occurred, nor did Carmack pay for the property.

"The city claims that it provided several notices and attempts to reschedule the closing to no avail," according to the lawsuit. "The cCity then canceled the sale and returned the property to the city's surplus property inventory."

Five years later, in May 2012, Carmack appeared at before the City Council telling members he was sent a deed that he didn't pay for. He then filed for a lost affidavit so he could sell the deed to Moby Dick Ventures, a limited liability company in Illinois.

After the city learned of the sale to Moby Dick in June 2018, it filed the instant quiet title action. In October 2019, the Michigan State Police, Forensic Science Division were brought in to perform an analysis and deemed the deed attached was a "copy."

"I commend our city attorney James Noseda who stuck with this case for four years," said the city's top attorney, Conrad Mallett Jr. "Bob Carmack committed two sets of fraud. Fraud against the people of the city and on Moby Dick Ventures. He publicly admitted that he paid nothing for the property that he claimed belonged to him, in the judge's words, this is the definition of fraud."

Mallett said it's typical city practice for closing documents to be provided at the point of sale to ensure all information is correct, however, the sale was never completed.

"He used those documents to convince Moby Dick Ventures to buy the land that was not his," Mallett said.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit Carmack initiated, alleging the city owed him the land. Moby Dick Ventures intervened in the lawsuit and asked the judge if the land was never owed to Carmack to also order the return of their $1 million investment. The judge ruled in Moby Dick's favor.

"Whether or not they're ever going to see their million, that's another story," Mallet said. "This was a thoroughly investigated, extremely well-done effort I believe is bulletproof. The wheels of justice turn slowly but we're going to get there."

srahal@detroitnews.com