Maryland Mortgage Consultant Cops Plea In Foreclosure Rescue Scam

The Washington Post reports that Nicholas D. McLeod, 31, of Gaithersburg, Maryland pleaded guilty last week to felony theft, embezzlement and prohibited activities while acting as a foreclosure consultant. According to the story:

• "Shortly after the tighter rules for foreclosure consultants kicked in [in 2005], McLeod bilked nine homeowners -- including his 83-year-old grandmother -- out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, authorities said. He spent the proceeds on a new house, a BMW, outings to strip clubs and trips to Thailand, Las Vegas and Miami, prosecutors said. The homeowners were left with far greater problems than the ones they had entrusted him to solve. "Most of them, if not all of them, have lost their homes," Montgomery County Assistant State's Attorney Robert Hill said in court [last week] as McLeod admitted scamming the homeowners. "This is a very serious and elaborate scheme." Hill said McLeod told investigators that he "started out honestly but along the way began skimming the equity" from refinanced homes."

Reportedly, Montgomery County, Maryland prosecutors were able to include in the indictment properties in the District of Columbia and Virginia because the proceeds came back to Montgomery County.

For more, see Gaithersburg Man Admits to Equity-Skimming Scam.

Go here for links to the 2005 Maryland Statute, Protection of Homeowners in Foreclosure (Sections 7-301 through 7-321), which regulates the activities of foreclosure rescue operators (foreclosure purchasers and consultants) in Maryland.

Go here for other cases of Criminal Prosecutions Of Foreclosure Rescue Operators.