California Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets Five Years In Federal Prison

The Sacramento Business Journal reports that Christopher Craig, 35, of Auburn, California was sentenced in a Sacramento Federal Court yesterday to five years incarceration, followed by five years supervised release, and ordered to pay nearly $1 million in restitution. Craig pleaded guilty to fraudulently collecting $1.2 million in home equity loans from Washington Mutual Bank that were obtained in the course of an equity stripping, foreclosure rescue operation in which he bilked homeowners of their home equity and defrauded WaMu of almost $1 million.

The straw buyers who participated with Craig, Donald Edgecomb, 35 of Trevor, Wisconsin., and Jacob Esteves, 35 of Auburn, also pleaded guilty to misprision of a felony (failing to report a crime) and are scheduled for sentencing next month. For more, see 'Foreclosure help' leads to prison term.

For copy of grand jury charges, see Indictment - U.S.A. vs. Christopher Craig, et al. Go here for other posts on this story.

Go here for U.S. Attorney's Press Release - Man Who Posed As Foreclosure Specialist Sentenced To Over 5 Years In Federal Prison And Ordered To Pay Back Almost A Million Dollars.

Go here for other Criminal Prosecutions Of Foreclosure Rescue Operators.