During the early 1990s, Emmanuel 'Toto' Constant was the feared and ruthless leader of the Front for the Advancement and Progress of Haiti, or 'FRAPH' to its friends. He’s widely accused of killing, raping, maiming supporters of the overthrown former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Now, he’s based in Queens, New York, and the good news is that he’s finally facing trial – except not for war crimes, or mass murder or mayhem. He’s facing trial for stealing money from institutional lenders by inflating the value of property. In other words, he’s on trial for mortgage fraud, the crime du jour.

Our publisher finds mortgage fraud everywhere, in his weekly guest column for Citywire.