Phoenix-Area Head Foreclosure Rescue Operation Under Federal Scrutiny

(original post - 12-22-07)
In Phoenix, Arizona, we find investigative reporter Josh Bernstein, now with television station ABC 15, shining the spotlight on another apparently shady real estate operation. This time, the company in the spotlight is Mesa-based Financial Enterprises LLC, a foreclosure rescue operation involving Jeremy Michael Head and his business partners.

The focus of the report is an equity stripping transaction, under the guise of a home sale and leaseback, that one local homeowner facing foreclosure unwittingly entered into after turning to Financial Enterprises for help. The homeowner has since filed a lawsuit alleging fraud against the company, naming among others, Jeremy Michael Head, his brother Charles Head, mortgage broker Sonny Rock, and straw buyer Sarah Mattson, who ended up on the title to the victim's home, as defendants.

This operation is reportedly part of the nationwide operation that is currently under criminal investigation. An excerpt from the story:

• According to documents obtained by the Investigators the FBI has raided several offices across the country, including the offices of Financial Enterprises LLC in Mesa, Arizona. The FBI has seized lavish sports cars, thousands of documents and a condominium in Miami as well. Sarah Mattson's attorney tells ABC15 "the United States Attorney and the FBI have told me there is no doubt my client is going to be indicted."

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• The Investigators have learned there are more than 350 victims nationwide, involving more than thirty five million dollars in fraud. The FBI's investigation involves homes from Hawaii to New Jersey. There are more than a dozen victims here in Phoenix and the surrounding area.

For more, including the link to watch the ABC 15 video report, see Valley teacher, former business partners tied to federal mortgage probe.

Go here to read more about the key players in this investigation.

Go here for other posts on the Head nationwide foreclosure rescue operation.

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Go here for earlier posts and links to media reports on a series of investigative reports by Josh Bernstein, then with KCRA 3 in Sacramento, that led to a break up of a local mortgage fraud ring and the Federal indictments of the ring operators.