Recent Criminal Prosecutions Of Florida Foreclosure Rescue Scams

The Bradenton Herald reports on three recent criminal prosecutions of foreclosure rescue scams in Central Florida - two completed successfully and one currently pending:

• A federal [...] jury in Tampa found five Tampa-area residents guilty in 2007 of stealing more than $2 million in equity from homeowners in central and South Florida. [...] The scheme's principals - Kamal Moumneh; his brother, Ramzy Moumneh; and Chuong Dam, all of Tampa - were sentenced to between one and five years in prison. Four others who were convicted or pleaded guilty in the scheme received lesser sentences.

• Tampa Police arrested Carmen Maria Oliveri, 48, of Seffner, on felony grand theft and organized fraud charges in June 2007. She and her husband, Jose, are accused of scheming to defraud a Tampa homeowner by not telling him that he was signing over his home as part of a foreclosure rescue transaction, then selling the house without his knowledge. Carmen Oliveri is awaiting trial but Jose Oliveri remains a fugitive, court records show. They were principals in 4 Solutions Inc., a defunct Tampa-based foreclosure consulting firm [...].

• Graham Kligerman, a disbarred Clearwater attorney, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in December for his part in an $11 million scheme. He and several unindicted co-conspirators, through a program called "Fresh Start Leaseback" that ARO Properties Corp. offered on the Internet, targeted homeowners who had substantial equity but were facing foreclosure, prosecutors said. Go here for more on Graham Kligerman.

For more, see Recent foreclosure scam cases in Florida.

Go here for other criminal prosecutions of foreclosure rescue operators.