Two Phoenix police lieutenants under investigation for allegations of impropriety in an off-duty real estate venture have been reassigned from the precinct overseeing Ahwatukee Foothills to elsewhere in the city.
Trent Crump, Phoenix Police Department spokesman, said the state Attorney General's Office has been investigating Lt. Mark Tallman and Lt. Lee Brent Shaw over allegations that the pair's real estate firm, Better Choice Investments, which they operated while off duty, collaborated with another firm to target homeowners in mortgage trouble and maneuver their homes out from under them. Attorney General Terry Goddard has described the operation as a "rescue scam."
Crump said Shaw was transferred out of the South Mountain precinct in August, and Tallman was transferred out on Monday as part of ongoing efforts to reorganize the police department. The transfers are not related to the investigation, he said.
Janey Pearl, a spokeswoman for the Attorney General's Office, said she could not comment on the investigation's status.
Contact Writer: (480) 898-7914 or acohn@ahwatukee.com
