Accused Loan Modification Scammer Flees Town As Cops Tag Fugitive With 27 Felony Counts

From the Office of the Orange County, California District Attorney:

• Law enforcement is currently seeking the owner of a Costa Mesa-based mortgage refinance company and escrow business who is charged in a large fraudulent rate-lock loan modification scheme targeting mostly out-of-state and some elderly victims.
• To date, known victims are residents of California, Maryland, Minnesota, Florida, and Washington. The case was jointly investigated by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office (OCDA) and California Franchise Tax Board (CFTB).
• James Toufic Assali, 36, Irvine, is charged with 18 felony counts of grand theft, three felony counts of grand theft of an adult over 65, four felony counts of money laundering, and two felony counts of filing a false tax return with sentencing enhancements for money laundering exceeding $50,000.
• If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 23 years in state prison. An arrest warrant was issued May 26, 2011, for Assali, who is believed to be either in California or Vermont.
• Assali is accused of owning and being responsible for the daily operations of Meredian Financial Corporation (Meredian) and an escrow business, Fortis Title Solutions. The two businesses operated out of an office in Costa Mesa, despite having a Florida billing address.

• He is accused of targeting out-of-state victims, some elderly, by calling and soliciting Meredian’s home loan rate-lock and modification services for a fee ranging from $750 up to $10,000. [...] The defendant is accused of failing to complete a majority of home loan modifications or refinancing services retained by victims and refusing to issue refunds promised of the initial fees collected. [...]

For the Orange County DA press release, see Law Enforcement Seeks Fugitive Costa Mesa Business Owner Charged In Large Rate-Lock Loan Modification Fraud Scheme (Victims include residents of California, Maryland, Minnesota, Florida, and Washington).