Hawaii Feds Charge 6th Suspect In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Scam; Loan Officer, Two Others Agree To Plead Guilty This Week

In Honolulu, Hawaii, the Star Bulletin reports:

• Federal prosecutors have charged a sixth defendant in a mortgage fraud case that displaced two families on Oahu. Paula Galacgac is the unindicted co-conspirator named as P.G. in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in May charging five others with crimes related to mortgage fraud. Prosecutors charged her Friday and she has agreed to plead guilty this week. Two other defendants, Albert Alimoot and Evan Koizumi, are scheduled to plead guilty [today] before a federal magistrate judge.

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• Galacgac was a loan officer with a mortgage broker company. She identified properties occupied by individuals facing foreclosure and otherwise having financial difficulty, according to court documents. She, along with John Mendoza, Antonio Alcantara Jr., Ira Altwegg, Alimoot and Koizumi, are accused of convincing troubled property owners that they could sell their properties to so-called "straw purchasers" without having to move out.

• The straw purchasers didn't intend to occupy the homes but filled out false loan applications to obtain loans they never intended to repay, according to the indictment.

For the story, see Defendant No. 6 joins mortgage fraud case.

For story updates, see:

• 2 plead guilty in mortgage fraud (Alimoot, 47, and Koizumi, 40, pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiring to commit wire fraud and mail fraud and to make false statements on loan applications as part of their roles in a mortgage fraud scheme),
• Third guilty plea in loan fraud (Paula Galacgac faces five years in prison when she is sentenced for the mortgage scam).

To view the original indictment, see U.S. v. Mendoza, et. al.