FBI Snags Skimmers in "Rescue" Fraud; 168 Properties Involved

This 2003 story again shows the Federal Government in action in prosecuting another "equity skimming" / "foreclosure rescue" operation. Originally appearing in The Record (Northern New Jersey) and can be read here, this article reports on two New Jersey men who defrauded distressed North Jersey homeowners by promising to assume responsibility for their mortgages but failing to pay them.

The men persuaded troubled homeowners to sign over ownership of their homes to companies controlled by the two men. In exchange, the two men allegedly offered to pay home-related debts, prosecutors said. The former homeowners, who remained in their homes as tenants, then made monthly rental payments to the scammers' companies.

As in other "skimming" stories, the scammers simply pocketed the rental income received from the now former homeowners-turned-renters without making any payments on the existing mortgages on the homes, according to authorities, who cited that, at one point, the men controlled properties with a single-month rental value of $82,000.