Investor Sounds the Alarm with a Book On How to Avoid Cunning Real Estate Scam Artists

TAMPA, FL, UNITED STATES, July 29, 2025 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Tatiana Zagorovski is a well-known and respected real estate investor, but her career hasn’t been free of challenges.

As a software engineer who immigrated to the U.S. for a better life, her early real estate career was nearly derailed when she crossed paths with a cunning con artist who defrauded her out of $120,298.53.

Zagorovski met a woman at a mastermind group who positioned herself as a real estate expert looking to partner with equity partners.

“I met a woman named Lena Meadowcroft through a mastermind group I was a part of, and she proposed a joint venture where we would collaborate on an investing opportunity,” she explained. In February 2022, Zagorovski and Meadowcroft teamed up with the intent that Zagorovski would enter as an equity partner to acquire, renovate, and flip a property together.

“That was a huge mistake,” Zagorovski said.

The initial strategy was to renovate and resell the property, however, by April the partners shifted their approach to operate the home as a short-term rental with plans to later refinance and recover the investment. They failed to put the updated ownership and financial terms into writing, which ended up being a critical misstep.

Throughout the process, Meadowcroft redirected rental income into her personal account and failed to disclose offers on the property. Eventually, the property was sold in April 2023, but Meadowcroft never paid Zagorovski for her share. Meadowcroft’s failure to repay over $120,298.53 in documented investments led Zagorovski to seek legal recourse. Attorneys from Armstrong Teasdale issued demand letters and attempted to obtain information from Meadowcroft, all to no avail. Note: this number does not include legal fees or interest, which continue to grow.

In August 2023, Zagorovski initiated arbitration proceedings under the terms of the original joint venture agreement. Despite arbitrators granting Meadowcroft multiple extensions, she failed to respond, and her counsel later withdrew. On December 12, 2024, an arbitrator ruled in favor of Zagorovski. Due to Meadowcroft’s refusal to respond, Zagorovski was later forced to file a civil suit in the Thirteenth Judicial Circuit for Hillsborough County.

Now, Zagorovski is sounding the alarm to protect other investors from scams like this.

Her upcoming book, titled Predator in a Pastor Suit: Exposing Lena Meadowcroft’s Real Estate Scam, breaks down how Meadowcroft used her perceived authority to lure Zagorovski and other investors in, deceive them, and ultimately con them out of their hard-earned money. While this book is about a particular con artist, the principles and red flags outlined are common in most real estate scams.

Zagorovski still believes that real estate is an amazing path to financial freedom, but she’s also learned first hand that there are unethical people in the industry that are more than willing to take advantage of others. She believes that it’s her duty to warn others so they can identify and avoid the kinds of scams she fell victim to.

“Unfortunately, I overlooked a lot of red flags throughout the transaction. I dismissed my own intuition. I assumed this woman was in this group because she was legit and had been vetted. That was a huge mistake on my part. While I lost over six figures in this investment with Lena Meadowcroft, ultimately, I believe it made me a better investor because while costly, this experience taught me to trust my gut and always fully vet everyone I get involved with. You can’t blindly trust anyone, and that lesson was hammered home for me. Now I want to use my experience to help others avoid what I went through,” Zagorovski explained.

Predator in a Pastor Suit: Exposing Lena Meadowcroft’s Real Estate Scam will be available on Amazon later this summer.

Jeremy Knauff
Spartan Media
pr@spartanmedia.com