{"id":25221,"date":"2016-07-12T10:34:53","date_gmt":"2016-07-12T17:34:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=25221"},"modified":"2016-07-12T10:34:53","modified_gmt":"2016-07-12T17:34:53","slug":"man-admits-scamming-1500-struggling-homeowners-mortgage-modification-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=25221","title":{"rendered":"Man Admits to Swindling 1,500 Struggling Homeowners Through Mortgage-Modification Fraud"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, CALIF.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

A Southern California man plead guilty in federal court to scamming 1,500 victims by lying and misrepresenting a worthless mortgage-modification scam, federal officials announced Monday.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"courthouse\"Charles Wayne Farris<\/strong>, 55, of Aliso Viejo, California, plead guilty for his role as a sales manage of the a multi-million dollar fraudulent scheme, officials said. Farris admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis defendant supervised dozens of telemarketers who used lies and false promises to take money from struggling homeowners for a worthless service,\u201d said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Benjamin C. Mizer, head of the Justice Department\u2019s Civil Division.\u00a0 \u201cWe will continue to prosecute all kinds of mass-marketing and telemarketing fraud schemes, especially those that prey on vulnerable victims.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Farris admitted that, between October 2008 and June 2009, he participated in a scheme to induce homeowners to pay between $3,500 and $5,500 for the services of the Rodis Law Group or RLG and a successor entity, America\u2019s Law Group or ALG.<\/span><\/p>\n

RLG and ALG advertised on radio stations nationwide.<\/span><\/p>\n

They urged struggling homeowners to call a toll-free number and stating that the companies consisted of \u201ca team of experienced attorneys\u201d who were \u201chighly skilled in negotiating lower interest rates and even lowering your principal balance,” according to officials.<\/span><\/p>\n

In fact, RLG and ALG were telemarketing operations that never had teams of experienced attorneys.<\/span><\/p>\n

During much of the scheme, Ronald Rodis was the only attorney at RLG.<\/span><\/p>\n

Farris supervised a sales force of dozens of telemarketers who fielded calls from struggling homeowners.<\/span><\/p>\n

At Farris\u2019s direction and using scripts that he created, the telemarketers made numerous misrepresentations regarding the companies\u2019 ability to negotiate loan modifications from the homeowners\u2019 mortgage lenders.<\/span><\/p>\n

For example, the telemarketers stated that RLG and ALG had been in business for 11 years when in fact the company had only opened in October 2008.<\/span><\/p>\n

They falsely stated that RLG and ALG routinely obtained positive results for homeowners, including lower monthly payments, reductions in principal balance and lower interest rates.\u00a0 In fact, positive results were rarely achieved for any RLG or ALG clients.<\/span><\/p>\n

Telemarketers also falsely reiterated that homeowners would have a team of attorneys and real estate professionals assigned to their case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe defendants in this case preyed upon vulnerable homeowners facing the loss of their home and callously took advantage of what hope they had left,\u201d said Assistant Director in Charge Deirdre L. Fike of the FBI\u2019s Los Angeles Field Office. \u201cPaid advertisements can lend a veneer of credibility to any scam, and I would encourage anyone considering paying fees up front for services to be skeptical before handing over hard earned money.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In a plea agreement filed in federal court, Farris admitted that the RLG and ALG schemes fraudulently obtained approximately $9 million from more than 1,500 victims. His sentencing is on April 17, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

Farris was charged along with two co-defendants, Bryan D\u2019Antonio and Ronald Rodis<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rodis pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud on June 27.\u00a0 D\u2019Antonio is charged with 23 felony counts.<\/span><\/p>\n

He is charged with nine counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.<\/span><\/p>\n

Each of these counts carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, D\u2019Antonio is charged with 13 counts of criminal contempt for violating a 2001 federal court order, which permanently banned D\u2019Antonio from participating in future telemarketing operations.<\/span><\/p>\n

D\u2019Antonio is scheduled for trial beginning Sept. 20.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, CALIF. A Southern California man plead guilty in federal court to scamming 1,500 victims by lying and misrepresenting a worthless mortgage-modification scam, federal officials announced Monday. Charles Wayne Farris, 55,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3968,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,16,3],"tags":[2853],"class_list":["post-25221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fbi","category-home-main-slider","category-u-s-department-of-justice","tag-mortgage-modification-scam"],"yoast_head":"\nMan Admits to Swindling 1,500 Struggling Homeowners Through Mortgage-Modification Fraud<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"SANTA ANA, CALIF. 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