Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Scammer Pinched For Running Loan Modification Racket Pleads No Contest To 12 Felony Grand Theft Charges, Three Felony Foreclosure Consultant Violations

In Santa Barbara, California, KEYT-TV Channel 3 reports:
  • The Santa Barbara County District Attorney's office announced [last week] that Jessica Lynn Orca has been convicted of 15 felony charges related to real estate fraud. The judge in the case indicated that he will sentence Orca to 7 years in prison.

    Orca violated state law by collecting fees in advance from clients who wanted loan modifications. Orca would require them to pay with a money order or cashier's check and told them the money would go directly toward house payments and foreclosure services. However, investigators for the District Attorney's office discovered that Orca embezzled the money instead for her personal use.

    Orca pleaded no contest to 12 felony counts of Grand Theft, 3 felony counts of Engaging in Prohibited Practices of a Foreclosure Consultant and 2 misdemeanor counts of Unlawfully Collecting Advance Fees.

    Although Orca will be sentenced to 7 years in prison, she will likely only serve two years in county jail and the remaining five years under supervised release because of California's new Public Safety Realignment Law.
Source: Woman Convicted of Real Estate Fraud.

For the Santa Barbara District Attorney press release, see People v. Jessica Lynn Orca: Real Estate Fraud Case.