Loan Modification Racket Operator Cops Guilty Plea For Role In Telemarketing Scam That Used Veneer Of A Law Firm To Dupe Over 1500 Homeowners Seeking Foreclosure Help Out Of Approximately $9 Million

From the Office of the U.S. Attorney (Los Angeles, California):

• A Brea man pleaded guilty [] to federal charges related to his role as the owner and operator of a multi-million dollar fraudulent mortgage modification scheme that posed as a successful law firm to defraud struggling homeowners.
  
  Bryan D’Antonio, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud for his role as owner and operator of Rodis Law Group (RLG) and America’s Law Group (ALG).
  
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  D’Antonio admitted that, between October 2008 and June 2009, he participated in a scheme that induced homeowners to pay as much as $5,500 for the services of RLG and its successor entity, ALG. RLG and ALG advertised on radio stations across the country and urging struggling homeowners to call a toll-free number. The companies purportedly consisted of “a team of experienced attorneys” who were “highly skilled in negotiating lower interest rates and even lowering your principal balance.”
  
  In fact, RLG and ALG were telemarketing operations that never had teams of experienced attorneys. During much of the scheme, one man – co-defendant Ronald Rodis – was the only attorney at RLG.
  
  In a plea agreement filed in federal court, D’Antonio admitted that the RLG and ALG schemes fraudulently obtained approximately $9 million from more than 1,500 victims.
  
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  D’Antonio’s co-defendants, Charles Wayne Farris and [attorney] Ronald Rodis, both previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.

For more, see Orange County Man Pleads Guilty to Owning Fake Law Firms that Falsely Promised to Help Struggling Homeowners.