Florida man's mountain deals in N.C. are a mystery

[struggle4progress]

By Lucy Morgan, Times Senior Correspondent
In print: Sunday, July 20, 2008

... The man is Domenic Rabuffo, a Miami resident whose onetime business partner, the "fat man,'' was killed in a 1987 mob hit as he dined at Bravo Sergio, an Italian restaurant in Manhattan.

Rabuffo and his partner were accused of masterminding a $49-million mortgage fraud. Rabuffo pleaded guilty, went into the witness protection program and served a brief prison sentence.

Now, amid the huge downturn in the real estate market, he is shepherding a real estate development that is completely out of character for the area. He is building huge, luxury homes sandwiched on 1-acre tracts, in a gated community he values at more than $200-million.

Rabuffo has been buying land, often paying dramatically more than it's worth, and selling it to people who pay even more. The buyers, some having never laid eyes on the property, all obtain big mortgages. Though Rabuffo is calling the shots, his name does not appear in most of the documents relating to the project ...

http://www.tampabay.com/news/growth/article708036.ece