Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Equity Stripping Victim To Stay In Home Pending Outcome Of Civil Case Alleging Fraud Against Recently-Indicted Foreclosure Rescue Operator

In Honolulu, Hawaii, the Honolulu Star Bulletin reports:
  • Whatever happened to Debbie Aurelio and her family, who lost title to their Ewa Beach home and faced eviction after allegedly being swindled by mortgage scammers?

  • Aurelio and her family have been able to stay in their home, after the Legal Aid Society [of Hawaii] staved off eviction proceedings. Her civil case alleging fraud and deception by the mortgage broker and others is still pending in Circuit Court. The defendants in the case have been filing cross claims against each other, and no trial date has been set.

  • But on Feb. 11, one defendant, John Dimitrion, was indicted in U.S. District Court on criminal charges involving mortgage loan transactions on the Aurelio home and two other houses, one in Ewa Beach and one in Kapolei.(1)

For more, see Family allowed to remain in home as mortgage fraud case proceeds.

(1) According to the story, Dimitrion and others are accused of a criminal scheme in which they solicited homeowners facing foreclosure and offered to help them. Instead they allegedly arranged fraudulent loans for straw buyers for the homes and drained equity from the properties, then tried to evict the homeowners.