Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets 12 Months, Ordered To Pay $48K For Ripping Off 15 Victims In Upront Fee Loan Modification Scam

In Ventura County, California, the Ventura County Star reports:

• A judge on Tuesday sentenced a 55-year-old Ventura woman to a year in jail after she pleaded guilty to running an illegal real estate foreclosure rescue scam that lured 15 victims who paid her thousands of dollars. Ventura County Superior Court Judge Edward Brodie ordered Maria Victoria Santos to pay $48,000 as restitution and put her on five years probation, according to Deputy District Attorney Dominic Kardum.



• Santos pleaded guilty in February to three felony counts of unlawful acts by a foreclosure consultant and four counts of grand theft, Kardum said in a press release.



• Santos victimized predominately Spanish-speaking Ventura County residents and advertised her foreclosure scam on local Spanish-speaking radio stations. Santos promised to save people's homes from foreclosure provided they pay her thousands of dollars in up-front fees, Kardum said.

Source: Ventura woman sentenced to year in jail in real estate scam.