Easton man busted in mortgage fraud scheme

A 64-year-old Easton man – using 13 different alias names – has been arrested in what federal officials call a long-running fraud scheme that targeted dozens of distressed homeowners.

Timothy W. Burke was arrested Thursday for a using a scheme he allegedly created to defraud individuals, mortgage lenders and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by falsely representing to homeowners who were in, or facing, foreclosure on their homes that he would purchase their homes and pay off their mortgages.

In believing what “Tim Burke,” “William Burke,” “Bill Burke,” “Jeff Burke,” “Kerry Saunders,” “Pat Riley,” “Jim Caldwell,” “Jim Saunders,” “Tom Morrisey,” “Jimmy,” “Phil Burke,” “Phil,” or “Burt” said, many homeowners ultimately lost their houses because Timothy W. Burke (his real name) never paid off the mortgages or negotiated with the lenders, federal officials said.