Thursday, September 04, 2008

Maryland Attorney Cops Plea In Metropolitan Money Store Alleged Equity Stripping, Foreclosure Rescue Scam

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland announced yesterday:
  • Richard Allison, age 37, of Camp Springs, Maryland, an attorney and employee of the U.S. Census Bureau, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, in connection with a mortgage fraud scheme which falsely promised to help homeowners facing foreclosure keep their homes and repair their damaged credit, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

  • According to his plea agreement, Allison became employed by the Metropolitan Money Store located in Lanham, Maryland in December 2005. He provided legal services to: the Metropolitan Money Store, which offered foreclosure consultation and credit services to financially distressed homeowners; the Fordham & Fordham Investment Group, Ltd., a foreclosure consulting and credit servicing business based in Lanham and Greenbelt, Maryland; Burroughs & Smythe Financial Services, Inc., another foreclosure consulting and credit servicing business based in Lanham, Maryland; and several individual officers of the companies.

For more, see Lawyer Pleads Guilty In Metropolitan Money Store Mortgage Fraud Scheme (Conspired to Take Title of Homes from Financially Distressed Homeowners and Secretly Use Home Equity for Personal Benefit).

See also: The Washington Post: Lawyer Pleads Guilty in Metropolitan Money Store Scheme.

To read the original Federal indictment of the alleged perpetrators, see U.S. v. JoyJackson, et al. (available online courtesy of the consumer protection attorneys at The Holland Law Firm, P.C. and the Legg Law Firm).

Go here and go here for other posts on the alleged Metropolitan Money Store foreclosure rescue scam. joyjackson