After just for days of trial, a jury in another state has found a 29-year-old man guilty on various counts of fraud. According to the evidence presented at the trial, the man was pronounced guilty of eight counts of mail fraud affecting a financial institution and one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. He is said to have preyed upon homeowners who were facing foreclosure. Homeowners in Florida who are facing foreclosure should be wary of such schemes.
The report shares that the man and other employees of Star Reliable Mortgage sought out these homeowners and presented to them a fake loan elimination scheme. The homeowners were charged anywhere from $2,500 to $4,500 upfront, along with additional monthly fees for the services of Star Reliable. In return for these payments, Star Reliable made promises to its clients that they could own their homes free and clear.
Over time, the company managed to extract hundreds of thousands of dollars from its clients. At least $300,000 was transferred into the defendant’s bank account. He, along with other employees, filed fraudulent documents at the county records office on behalf of the clients. These supposedly replaced the original property trustees with fake trusts which were affiliated with the defendant.
Clients of Star Reliable were instructed to stop paying their mortgage payments. The company gave those clients false information, claiming that Star Reliable had over $1 million in a United States account that would be used to pay off their home loans. The scam was discovered after an FBI investigation. The man faces a maximum statutory sentence of 30 years and up to a $1 million fine.
Anyone in Florida who is facing foreclosure should always seek the advice of a knowledgeable bankruptcy law attorney. An experienced lawyer can help the client avoid scams such as the one this man was involved in perpetrating. There are ways to save a home from bankruptcy; unfortunately, this scam was not one of them.
Source: recorderonline.com, “Man convicted of running foreclosure rescue scam in Valley“, March 13, 2017