Victims of financial fraud laud working with investigator

As victims of fraud in a hard-money lending case, my husband and I had experience working with A.J. Santana.

We don’t know how “stubborn” he is (“Accused investigator described as stubborn,” March 26), but adjectives we would use to describe Mr. Santana are “very kind,” “empathetic,” “responsive,” “dedicated.” He was one of very few people we dealt with in our judicial nightmare who we can describe with positive adjectives. He impressed us as a rare individual who sincerely cared about justice for victims of crime.

Sadly, we can’t say that about the judges and some attorneys involved. It’s ironic that judges need to rely on “honesty” where they’re concerned, but lack of honesty against elderly victims of fraud seems irrelevant. We were never granted our day in court.

There is something deeply flawed in our judicial system. Is being “stubborn” and possibly making a paperwork error a worse crime than lying and defrauding seniors? How sad when that is the apparent standard of our courts and the public isn’t protected as it should be.

Tommy Pappas allegedly had drugs in his home. Is jealousy or a vendetta against Santana primarily driving this action?

A.J. Santana and his family should not have their lives shattered. That is the real crime here.

This story was originally published March 30, 2016 at 8:22 PM with the headline "Victims of financial fraud laud working with investigator."