Monday, September 19, 2016

Another Loan Modification Scammer With Dubious Past Dodges Heavy Time, Gets 9 Months For Ripping Off Thousand$ In Upfront Fees, Mortgage Payments From Unwitting Homeowners; Faces Additional 7+ Years Prison Time If She Violates Probation

In Hartford, Connecticut, the Journal Inquirer,com reports
  • An East Hartford woman who was charged in what state authorities have called a scheme that cost homeowners thousands of dollars as they were seeking to modify their mortgages was convicted of a reduced charge [] and sentenced to nine months in prison.

    Sabah Kennawi, 53, [...], was convicted of second-degree larceny and criminal impersonation in a Hartford Superior Court plea bargain, online court records show.

    She had originally been charged with first-degree larceny and two impersonation counts in her operation of a business called Mortgage Professional Services LLC.

    After the Correction Department releases Kennawi, the sentence calls for her to spend five years on probation, with the possibility of 7¼ more years behind bars if she violates release conditions.

    Kennawi collected thousands of dollars in fees and supposed mortgage payments from homeowners who had gone to Mortgage Professional Services seeking assistance in modifying their home loans, authorities alleged.

    Prosecutors in the chief state’s attorney’s office in Rocky Hill said she wasn’t legally permitted to collect the fees because she didn’t have a required state license. Moreover, authorities charged, she didn’t make the mortgage payments for which money had been turned over to her, keeping the money for her own use.

    Kennawi has a long history of brushes with state authorities over her business, which includes allegations that she engaged in debt negotiations on behalf of others without a license required by state law and that she practiced law without a license.