'Black Independence Day' Home Giveaway Scam Leads to Arrest

Highland Park, MI — A scam that duped hundreds of people into believing they had won a free house and $100,000 and cascaded into a chaotic confrontation at City Hall on the Fourth of July could result in charges against the man who distributed fliers detailing the bogus offer.

About 300 people showed up to claim the house in what was called a Black Independence Day celebration. When they found out the offer was bogus, some members of the crowd clashed with police.

Ramzu Yunus, of Highland Park, was arrested Monday. Paperwork for charges was expected to be turned over to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday.

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Highland Park Police Chief Chester Logan didn’t disclose the specific charges that could be filed against Yunus, who leads a nationally recognized African-American sovereign movement whose members denounce their American citizenship and often refuse to pay taxes, but he told The Detroit News they are “serious.”

A year later at the rally in Highland Park, Yunus declared the Fourth of July to be Black Independence Day.

“We have a referendum saying we are going independent, we are going to control this city, it's ours,” Yunus said, according to WJBK-TV.

• Hundreds Duped By Offer of House, $100,000

“We are telling people sign the referendum, withdraw the consent of the government,” he said. “Give their consent to a new council that will give them the home and give them reparations of $100,000 based on city's assets.”

On his Facebook page Sunday, Yunus declared: “TOMORROW IS YOURS DETROIT!!!YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GIVE YOURSELF JUSTICE, $100,000 PLUS A FREE HOME!

“All you have to do is sign that you want this Justice and independence. With this new Independence we can/will immediately give abandoned/empty homes to everyone who applies plus $100,000 in funding ‘on the spot’ to each adult as we collateralize our/the city’s assets.

“Bring some abandoned houses addresses to the lawyers who will check if it is indeed empty then give you a CERTIFICATE OF OWNERSHIP! Please Everyone YOU MUST BE THERE!”

Also on Yunus’ Facebook page, a woman who identified herself as his sister, Yoni, said he had been wrongfully detained for allegedly inciting a riot.

Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp said he was surprised by how many people thought the offer of a free house and $100,000 was legitimate.

“For someone to deliver a flier to your address on a holiday asking you to come down to a city building that is closed on a holiday doesn’t make sense,” Yopp told The Detroit News Tuesday.

Image: Screenshot via WJBK-TV