Monday, May 21, 2012

Alleged Scam Victims' Attorney: Mortgage Assistance-Peddling 'Guru' May Have Ripped Off $1M+ From Nearly 200 Connecticut Residents; Cops Yet To Act

In Wethersfield, Connecticut, The Hartford Courant reports:
  • An immigrant couple paid a Wethersfield man $18,600 to erase their debts by tapping into a little-known federal fund that they were told has money for anyone who knows the special, complicated way to apply for it, court records state. But no such fund exists, their lawyer Manuel A, Suarez said Monday. The fund is "fictitious," he said.
***
  • Suarez said his clients were struggling but current on their debts when they went to [Deowraj] Buddhu for advice in 2010, hired him and followed his guidance to stop paying on loans and apply for money to wipe out all their obligations. That advice caused the couple to fall into foreclosure, which they believed until a few months ago would be reversed by the secret fund, Suarez said.

  • In court, Judge Antonio Robaina said he needed time to review the motion and would notify all parties once he made a decision on the motion.

  • Outside court, Suarez said he has six clients who claim they were defrauded by Buddhu, a Wethersfield resident in his 60s who served time in state prison for his misdemeanor role in a counterfeit check case.

  • In court papers, Suarez says he's gotten information that Buddhu may have collected more than $1 million from as many as 200 clients who on his counsel stopped paying mortgages, car loans, credit card debts because the secret fund would pay off those obligations.

  • Buddhu has not been charged.