Phoenix Man Pleas Guilty In Upfront Fee Foreclosure Rescue Scam; Agrees To Pay Ripoff Victims $2.8M+ In Restitution

In Phoenix, Arizona, KPHO-TV Channel 5 reports:

• A Phoenix man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit wire fraud and mail fraud in a Valley foreclosure scam, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Luis Belevan, 34, and his co-conspirator, were charged with defrauding at least 1,800 local distressed homeowners out of a $1,595 up-front fee for bogus promises of assistance in avoiding home foreclosure in 2009 and 2010. As part of his plea agreement, Belevan agreed to pay restitution to the victims in the amount of $2,871,000.



• Belevan admitted to telling homeowners who were unable to make their mortgage payments that his company, The Guardian Group, would purchase and refinance their mortgages based on the lower property values that followed the housing market crash of 2007, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.



• Belevan falsely claimed that his company had access to a $40 billion hedge fund for this purpose, when it actually had no financing at all. Belevan's company charged each homeowner a $1,595 up-front fee, generating almost $3 million in funds in just 9 months, which he and others used for personal expenses and for other failed business ventures, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Source: Man faces prison in foreclosure rescue scam.

For the U.S. Attorney press release, see Phoenix Man Pleads Guilty to Defrauding 1,800 Victims in Foreclosure Scam.