Six individuals have been charged with violations of federal law in what the indictment alleges was a scheme to market and sell home loan modification services to distressed homeowners trying to save their homes from foreclosure following the financial crisis of 2008. Investigators believe the alleged scheme involved more than 10,000 victims in nearly every state in the country with losses of more than $33 million.
Archives For Loan Modification
Martin Wayne Flanders, 50, formerly of Roseville, California, and Ligia Sandoval Spafford, 48, Roseville, pleaded guilty to mail fraud for their participation in a loan modification fraud scheme that targeted distressed homeowners. The couple used Ghost offers – i.e., fictitious offers to purchase the victim’s property through short sale – and skeleton bankruptcies – i.e., sham bankruptcy petitions that were quickly dismissed, to defraud homeowners.
Jeffrey Charles Leroy Taylor, 40, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, resident was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to 36 months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay $350,470.00 in restitution, for his role in managing a loan modification scheme.
Three men and two women have been charged with committing loan modification fraud by targeting Hispanic victims throughout Southern California. Three of the defendants are family members and are charged with leading a family-run home loan modification ring and illegally charging victims for services that they did not provide.
Vickie Fuentes, Fresno, California, was sentenced to 5 years local prison and ordered to pay restitution to 33 homeowners in the amount of $142,599.99.
Maziar Bordbar, Saeid Yarandi, Pamela Gressier, Nathaniel Ferrer, Roberto Durano, and Joel Valdellon have been charged with running a loan modification scam in Orange County, California, wherein the defendants allegedly promised modifications in exchange for upfront fees.
Jonathan L. Herbert, 36, Lighthouse Point, Florida, has been charged with wire fraud for conducting a home loan modification scam that targeted individuals who were having difficulties making their mortgage payments.
Jason Vitulano, 39, Boca Raton, Florida, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra to 132 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for operating boiler rooms that collected advance fees from distressed homeowners purportedly in exchange for obtaining loan modifications for the homeowners.
Jeffrey Charles Leroy Taylor, 40, a former Tampa Bay Buccaneers football player, pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Dave Lee Brannon to charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, and mail fraud for his role in a scheme to bilk thousands of homeowners who were struggling to make their mortgage payments. .
Nationwide Consulting, LLC, and its operators, Kenneth Sandoval and Zacharia Ortiz, who were convicted for their roles in a loan modification scheme, will be repaying their victims out of restitution obtained in the criminal case.