LOS ANGELES
A Long Beach man is facing up to five years in prison when he is sentence in November for a $3 million foreclosure rescue scam.
Karl Robinson, 52, plead guilty Tuesday to one count of bankruptcy fraud in federal court. The charges stem from a long-running mortgage rescue scheme that involved nearly $3 million in illegal fees charged to distressed homeowners and about 200 fraudulent bankruptcy petitions.
Robinson operated the foreclosure rescue scheme from 2008 until 2013 under his own name and other names, including “Stay In Your Home Today,” “21st Century Development” and “Genesis Ventures Corporation.”
He admitted that as part of his scheme he obtained nearly $3 million from distressed homeowners and filed more than 200 fake bankruptcies.
“This defendant filed scores of fraudulent bankruptcy actions – sometimes on multiple occasions in relation to a single property,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “He took advantage of distressed homeowners by stealing identities and lying to them about what he could do for their properties as long as they continued to pay his fees.”
The businesses provided illegal foreclosure- and eviction-delay services to homeowners who had defaulted on their mortgages, according to authorities.
The purpose of the scheme was to obtain money from distressed homeowners. In exchange Robinson was able to delay and obstruct lawful foreclosure and eviction actions against property owners who had defaulted on their mortgages.
As part of the scheme, Robinson filed bogus grant deeds in county records offices and other fake documents in formal eviction proceedings to make it appear that fictional people held interests in distressed properties.
He then fraudulently filed bankruptcy petitions in the names of the fictional people to trigger an “automatic stay” in the bankruptcy cases, according to officials.
The filing of a bankruptcy petition suspends all creditor actions, including foreclosure proceedings commenced by mortgage lenders and eviction actions commenced by purchasers of foreclosed properties.
“This defendant filed scores of fraudulent bankruptcy actions – sometimes on multiple occasions in relation to a single property,” said U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker. “He took advantage of distressed homeowners by stealing identities and lying to them about what he could do for their properties as long as they continued to pay his fees.”