California Man Cops Plea To Three Felonies For Role In Operating Loan Modification Racket That Clipped Five Homeowners Out Of $29K In Upfront Fees While Not Providing Actual Services

In Oxnard, California, the Ventura County Star reports:

• An Oxnard man pleaded guilty [] to three felony charges in connection with a fraudulent loan modification company he operated in Thousand Oaks, the Ventura County District Attorney's Office said.
  
  Michael McDevitt, 33, operated the company called Scovis Law Group throughout 2010 and 2011 in which time the business was represented as an expert in the field of loan modifications, prosecutors said. However, the company illegally collected up-front fees for the services, the District Attorney's Office said.
  
  McDevitt and his agents gave false representations to victims regarded purported loan modifications while collecting these fees, prosecutors said. The five victims named in the case received no actual services and lost about $29,000, the District Attorney's Office said.
  
  Throughout the investigation it was discovered that McDevitt did not disclose $67,818 in taxable income for 2009 or the $718,197 in taxable income for 2010, prosecutors said.
  
  McDevitt pleaded guilty to felony grand theft, tax evasion and foreclosure consultant fraud, the District Attorney's Office said. He is expected to receive 16 months in state prison and was scheduled to be sentenced at 8:30 a.m. Sept. 3, prosecutors said.

Source: Oxnard man pleads guilty in fraudulent loan modification scheme.