Michigan Man Pleads Guilty, Coughs Up $125K In Upfront Restitution For Running Loan Modification Scam, Debt Management Ripoff That Screwed Over Homeowners Needing Financial Relief

From the Office of the Michigan Attorney General:

• Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette [] announced that Pasquale Longordo, 39, of Birmingham, and his company Modify Loan Experts, LLC, pleaded guilty to two felonies and 27 misdemeanors for stealing money from Michigan residents who were facing mortgage foreclosures or needed help managing their credit card debt.
  
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  Longordo pleaded guilty [...] to the following charges:
  

• One count of False Pretenses, a five year felony;
• Six counts of Attempted Debt Management Act, a misdemeanor;
• Seven counts of Credit Services Protection Act violations, a misdemeanor; and
• One count of Unemployment Compensation Fraud.

• Longordo also paid $125,000 in restitution at [this] hearing. The money will be distributed to his victims. Longordo is scheduled to be sentenced on September 27, 2016, at 8:30 a.m. in the Oakland County Circuit Court.
  
  The Deapartment of Attorny General was assisted on this case by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General.
  
  “Pasquale Longordo took advantage of victims desperate to keep their homes. He not only mislead them in his ability to negotiate on their behalf, rendering them helpless, but he also took their money and used it for his personal gain,” said Catherine Huber, Special Agent in Charge, Midwest Region, Federal Housing Finance Agency, Office of Inspector General. “The guilty plea [] is the first step in holding him accountable for his criminal conduct. Our office is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to seek justice for victims of this type of fraud.”
  
  Case Background
  
  Longordo and Modify Loan Experts allegedly promised victims that they would have an attorney assigned to represent them and negotiate mortgage modifications on their behalf with mortgage companies. However, this did not happen and many victims lost their homes as a result.
  
  Additionally, Longordo, who also operated a credit card debt management service, allegedly told debt management victims he was putting their funds into an escrow account and that he would use the payments to negotiate their debt with credit card companies. In reality, Longordo put the victims’ funds into a regular bank account and allegedly used that account like his personal ATM.
  
  During this time, Longordo allegedly received unemployment compensation although he was ineligible.

Source: South East Michigan Man Enters Guilty Plea for Role in Mortgage and Debt Management Scheme.