{"id":4907,"date":"2014-07-23T13:44:48","date_gmt":"2014-07-23T20:44:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907"},"modified":"2014-08-10T16:43:50","modified_gmt":"2014-08-10T23:43:50","slug":"four-indicted-operating-loan-modification-scam-targeting-distressed-homeowners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907","title":{"rendered":"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Mortgage<\/a>
(Source: Freddie Mac Image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

LOS ANGELES<\/strong> \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan modification programs to financially distressed homeowners.<\/p>\n

As a result of the fraudulent scheme allegedly run out of U.S. Homeowners Relief and several related entities, hundreds of financially distressed homeowners across the United States lost millions of dollars, and many victims also lost their homes in subsequent foreclosure proceedings, officials said.<\/p>\n

The four defendants named in the indictment are:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Samuel Paul Bain, who also used the name Paul Bain, 35, of Tustin, an owner and principal of the businesses, who is currently in state custody.<\/li>\n
  • Aminullah Sarpas, who also used the names Amin Sarpas and David Sarpas, 32, of Irvine, California, an owner and principal of the businesses,<\/li>\n
  • Damon Grant Carriger, 36, of Corona, California, the principal sales manager.<\/li>\n
  • Louis Saggiani, 64, of Huntington Beach, California, the manager and chief accountant for the businesses.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    The defendants are charged in a 33-count indictment. All four defendants are charged with conspiracy, 21 counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Bain, Sarpas and Saggiani are charged in an additional five counts of mail fraud and two counts of wire fraud. Bain is also charged with two counts of money laundering.<\/p>\n

    The conspiracy count carries a sentence of up to five years in prison, while each of the mail fraud, wire fraud and money laundering charges carry a sentence of up to 20 years behind bars.<\/p>\n

    The Indictment Allegations<\/strong><\/p>\n

    According to the indictment, the defendants operated a series of telemarketing \u201cboiler rooms\u201d that pitched loan modification services to distressed homeowners in the wake of the financial collapse in 2008. They \u00a0operated offices in Irvine, Santa Ana, Newport Beach, Garden Grove and Westminster under a series of company names from late 2008 to early 2010.<\/p>\n

    Initially called Greenleaf Modify, they subsequently used the names U.S. Homeowners Relief, Waypoint Law Group and, finally, American Lending Review.<\/p>\n

    The defendants would shut down each company name once their businesses attracted too many consumer complaints at the Better Business Bureau or attracted attention from state regulators such as the California Department of Justice.<\/p>\n

    The defendants and their associates used a consistent sales pitch throughout the scheme.<\/p>\n

    Mortgage Holders’ Fees<\/strong><\/p>\n

    According to the indictment, their advertising materials and telemarketers promised distressed mortgage holders that after paying advance fees ranging from about $1,450 to approximately $4,200, homeowners were highly likely to obtain a long-term modification to their current mortgage obligation, meaning they would have a lower monthly payment, an interest rate reduced to as low as 2 percent, and\/or a reduction of principal.<\/p>\n

    Many consumers were falsely told that their up-front money would be refunded if the promised loan modification failed to materialize.<\/p>\n

    The companies\u2019 marketing materials implied that they were affiliated with a government program, sometimes making specific references to actual government websites, the indictment alleges. Telemarketers associated with the companies also told consumers that their mortgage relief services were part of the \u201cObama Act,\u201d according to the indictment.<\/p>\n

    The defendants claimed in writing that one or more of the entities were licensed California real estate brokers and that payments would be placed in a trust account, not to be withdrawn until loan modification services were actually performed. They often claimed that specific attorneys were assigned to work on consumers\u2019 individual cases.<\/p>\n

    No Favorable Loan Modifications<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The vast majority of the hundreds of victims received no favorable loan modifications as per promises made by the defendants.<\/p>\n

    Several of the victims learned from their mortgage lenders that the defendants\u2019 companies had never made any contacts on the consumers\u2019 behalf. The defendants\u2019 companies were neither licensed real estate brokers, nor were they affiliated with any government program.<\/p>\n

    The consumers\u2019 funds were generally spent on the defendants themselves, on payments to sales people and other business expenses, and were not placed in trust accounts as promised.<\/p>\n

    While the defendants paid attorneys to write substantially identical form letters to some lenders, the attorneys did not give personalized attention to the individual victims. The defendants routinely used stalling tactics or simply ignored consumers\u2019 repeated demands for refunds after the customers did not receive their promised loan modifications.<\/p>\n

    The defendants are innocent until or unless they are proven guilty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan modification programs to financially distressed homeowners. As a…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFour Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"American Justice Notebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Raul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Raul\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\"},\"headline\":\"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907\"},\"wordCount\":721,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"American Justice\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907\",\"name\":\"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00\",\"description\":\"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?p=4907#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Mortgage-Fraud.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Mortgage-Fraud.jpg\",\"width\":182,\"height\":106},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"description\":\""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"American Justice Notebook\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/07\\\/Justice-Scales.jpg\",\"width\":675,\"height\":231,\"caption\":\"American Justice Notebook\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/AmericanJusticeNotebook\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0\",\"name\":\"Raul\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Raul\"},\"description\":\"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cjnotebook.com\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners","description":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners","og_description":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan","og_url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907","og_site_name":"American Justice Notebook","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook","article_published_time":"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00","article_modified_time":"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Raul","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Raul","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907"},"author":{"name":"Raul","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0"},"headline":"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners","datePublished":"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907"},"wordCount":721,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg","articleSection":["American Justice"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907","name":"Four Indicted for Operating a Loan Modification Scam Targeting Distressed Homeowners","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud-150x106.jpg","datePublished":"2014-07-23T20:44:48+00:00","dateModified":"2014-08-10T23:43:50+00:00","description":"LOS ANGELES \u2013 Federal agents on Monday arrested three of the four defendants who worked at Orange County businesses that allegedly offered bogus loan","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=4907#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Mortgage-Fraud.jpg","width":182,"height":106},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","name":"American Justice Notebook","description":""Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost." \u2014 Thomas Jefferson","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#organization","name":"American Justice Notebook","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/Justice-Scales.jpg","width":675,"height":231,"caption":"American Justice Notebook"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AmericanJusticeNotebook"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/#\/schema\/person\/f5521baddca77b521f012298775186c0","name":"Raul","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/c7f80bd073aca2abc2fc18e390e13d00b72d9d3a81bca4fd53e3567b02efee6f?s=96&r=g","caption":"Raul"},"description":"Raul Hernandez is a former journalist. He has worked as a newspaper reporter for more than 30 years at the El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso Times, Press Enterprise in Riverside, California and the Ventura County Star in California. He was a court reporter for more than 20 years.","sameAs":["https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4907"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4933,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4907\/revisions\/4933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}