Senior Fraud Victims Confront California Con Man In $43M Ponzi Scheme

In San Jose, California, the San Jose Mercury News reports:

• One by one, a succession of elderly fraud victims spoke in a San Jose courtroom [last] Thursday, many struggling for words and composure as they described how a dishonest mortgage broker took their life savings as part of a $43 million scam - and left them bereft. "Our savings are completely gone. We've had to sell every item we could. We are very depressed, and feel so frustrated, that we must count every penny," said 76-year-old Henry Bertrand, a retired military man whose voice grew hoarse as he explained that he had trusted broker Michael Schneider, only to become the victim of an elaborate scheme.
  "I was shaken to the core," added 80-year-old Mel Nashban, explaining that he had come to think of the earnest, boyish-looking 45-year-old as a member of his own family. On discovering Schneider's betrayal, Nashban said: "It was like he had taken a knife and put it in my heart." Fourteen others spoke in Santa Clara County Superior Court, most urging Judge Ray Cunningham to give the defendant a stiff prison sentence. Schneider pleaded no contest in August to 173 felony counts of burglary, embezzlement, elder financial abuse, grand theft and forgery. The maximum possible sentence is 169 years.

For more, see Elderly fraud victims confront swindler in court (Charming Swindler In Real Estate Case Confronted In Court).

For story update, see Santa Clara man gets 28 years for defrauding clients out of $43 million.

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Seniors Strike Back With Class Action Targeting Living Trust Peddlers

In Miller County, Arkansas, The Southeast Texas Record reports:

• A number of Texarkana residents have filed suit against sellers of living trust documents in a class action accusing the salesmen of exploiting senior citizens. [...] The living trust sellers are facing allegations of "masquerading as qualified financial advisers, estate planners, lawyers, and paralegals" to "exploit and prey" upon senior citizens with the creation and selling of "unnecessary and often useless" living trusts. [...] Defendants are accused of fraud, unauthorized practice of law, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and conspiracy. The suit alleges that the defendants created and sold the living trusts as part of a scheme to gain access to senior citizens' financial information in order to sell annuities and other financial products.

• According to the original complaint, the scheme begins with advertisements that persuade senior citizens to attend a free lunch or dinner. At these meetings, the "unlicensed" living trust defendants conduct presentations and distribute materials that misrepresent the impact of probate fees and estate taxes in order to create fear that the senior citizens need to buy a trust to prevent heirs from losing their estate.

For more, see Seniors file class action against sellers of living trusts.

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Heirs Of Elderly Man File Suit In Alleged Reverse Mortgage / Home Repair Scam

Channel 8 News in Austin, Texas reports on a recent lawsuit filed against a reverse mortgage consultant and a home improvement contractor alleging fraud against a now-deceased local elderly homeowner. According to the story:

• The lawsuit states Elder Solutions, LP "solicited and exploited elderly homeowners." The suit claims the two companies use a "two-step scheme." First they "bait the homeowner with promises of cash and improvements" and then they "commence major demolition" - trapping the homeowner into selling their property to pay the debt.

Austin attorney Joe Marrs, with the law firm Jackson Walker L.L.P., is representing the elderly homeowner's survivors and says that among the alleged fraudulent conduct committed was the use of forged powers of attorneys. Trish McAllister of Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas referred the case to Marrs. McAllister said this story is one of many she's heard involving reverse mortgages, mechanics liens, and foreclosures.

Another Austin-area resident said that the same thing happened to her father with Elder Solutions and the same home improvement company, Chaparral Ceiling and Wall, Inc. Attorney Marrs is reportedly in the process of filing a lawsuit on her behalf as well. For more, see Family sues local companies for fraud.

Go here for other posts on reverse mortgage problems.

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Adult Kids Scamming Aging Parents On The Increase?

In Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, The Associated Press reports:

• As more and more baby boomers head into retirement and beyond, authorities are seeing a rise in crimes against them by their own family members that are making these years anything but golden. Hennepin County’s Adult Protection Services has been inundated with requests to investigate allegations of children swindling their aging and sometimes vulnerable parents. Reports range from spending Social Security checks to duping them into signing over their homes or changing their wills.

For more, see More adult children scam aging parents.

See also, Minneapolis Star Tribune: Growing fear: Elders swindled by family (Hundreds of new allegations pour into Hennepin County every year of seniors losing assets -- most often to loved ones).

• "First the son took possession of his mother's house. Then he got power of attorney. He took thousands of dollars in insurance proceeds, used her ATM card and took trips to California and Florida at his mother's expense. His 84-year-old mother in Brooklyn Center, who has dementia, apparently didn't approve any of it."

For a recent story on a 46 year old New Jersey woman allegedly unlawfully using her 87-year-old mother's I.D. to finance a Mercedes Benz, obtain credit lines, and pass rubber checks in her mother's name, see Woman Indicted For Stealing Over $500,000.

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Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee Testifies On Foreclosure Resue Scams

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing addressing the use of foreclosure rescue scams in the preying upon elderly homeowners. Among those testifying was Catherine M. Doyle, Chief Staff Attorney, Civil Division, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI. To view the webcast of the Senate hearings, see Foreclosure Aftermath: Preying on Senior Homeowners.

Go here for the text of Ms. Doyle's testimony.

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93 Year Old Queens Man Bilked Out Of $800,000 Of Property In Alleged Real Estate Scam

In New York City, The Daily News reports on one unwitting elderly victim of a real estate scam that cost him plenty:

• While predatory lenders have been known to focus on minority neighborhoods, the most common targets are the elderly, [Queens DA's office head of economic crimes investigations Greg] Pavlides said. "They are the most vulnerable," he said. "They're equity rich and cash poor."

• Nobody knows that more than Mary Thompson, 66, whose father, Artee McKoy, 93, a retired barber, was bilked of $800,000 worth of property by a close friend's daughter. Alexandra Gilmore, 36, ingratiated herself to McKoy, who lives alone in Jamaica and suffers from dementia. Gilmore then swiped the deed to his home and flipped his investment property in Bayside twice, using refinancing schemes she set up without his permission, prosecutors said. "He's a very good, warm-hearted person. He'd give you the shirt off his back," said Thompson, who lives in New Jersey. She is now seeking justice and restitution in court for her father.

• However, prosecutors can take care of only half of that task, Pavlides noted. "We can put the bad guys in handcuffs, but we can't get you your house back," he said of the distinction between criminal and civil cases. Fraud crimes carry three- to nine-year sentences. But a defendant who can pay back a victim's losses can walk away with time served or a lighter sentence.

• Thompson said she was "very happy" about Gilmore's February arrest. But it didn't quite deliver peace of mind, she said. "They were doing their duty and their job, but that doesn't help pay off these big loans," she said of the prosecutors. "My father could be put out of the house at any time."

For the story, see Homeowners duped into signing over property have little recourse.

Go here for the Queens District Attorney news release on this case.

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Elderly Blind Oregon Homeowner Loses Home In Equity Stripping, Foreclosure Rescue Deal; Reportedly "Made Whole" Thru Legal Settlement

In Portland, Oregon, Willamette Week recently reported that the Oregon state legislature will be considering a proposed bill targeting foreclosure rescue scams this week. Buried at the end of the article is the story of one elderly homeowner for whom the proposed bill, if passed, won't help.

• The bill comes too late, however, for Evelyn Allen, a 73-year-old Northeast Portlander. According to a civil lawsuit last year, Jason Larry Somera and Mark Caravia saw Allen’s name on a foreclosure list. Allen owed $26,000 against a property assessed at $156,000. They offered to “lend” her $40,000 against her property, with no payments due for two years. But Allen—who is described by her attorney as “completely blind”—actually signed away her property for $40,000.

• “Defendants knew Allen was blind and took advantage of her blindness to fraudulently obtain her signature signing the title of her home over to them,” Allen’s attorney, Erin Olson, wrote in the lawsuit. Although the men refinanced the Allen’s house for $180,000 and sold it to a third party, Olson was able to get her client “made whole” as part of settling the lawsuit. Charlie Williamson, the attorney for Somera and Caravia, says his clients “could have done things better,” but adds “I don’t think they broke the law and I don’t think they defrauded this lady.” Olson disagrees. “This was really egregious behavior and extremely stressful for my client,” Olson says. “I hope the Legislature will make it more difficult for this to happen.”

For more, see Rescue Me (A Portland Cop is targeting foreclosure vultures. Next week, the Legislature will, too).

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400 Guilty Verdicts In $190M California Fraud Trial Targeting Mostly Elderly Investors

In Riverside County, California, The Press-Enterprise reports:

• Prosecutors will seek the maximum prison term of 117 years for the president and sole officer of D.W. Heath & Associates, who was convicted this week of bilking 1,600 mostly elderly investors. Daniel W. Heath received the final verdicts Friday, with jurors finding him guilty of 400 of 401 criminal counts, including securities fraud, selling securities without a license, theft from the elderly and grand theft. The verdicts were read over two days in the $190 million investment fraud trial involving his shuttered company. [...] "There are (sellers) out there who think that if investors complain, the worst they can face is civil suits, but we made it clear that you will face criminal charges," Deputy District Attorney Michael Quesnel said.

For more, see Heath investment fraud trial ends in 400 guilty verdicts, one not guilty (read story) (watch video).

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Crowded Jails Keep Two Convicted Foreclosure Rescue Scam Artists From Doing Hard Time

In Stanislaus County, California, The Modesto Bee reports on the story of Lonni Ashlock and Ronald Buhler, two men who last year pleaded no contest to six felony counts of ripping off troubled and vulnerable homeowners.

• Sentenced in September to a year in the county jail, these con artists have spent no time behind bars. They haven't had to eat jail food or even pick up trash as part of a work crew. To the contrary, they live at home and wear electronic monitoring ankle bracelets. The devices don't track their whereabouts -- only whether they are at home. They're supposed to leave only to go to work during a specified window of time, Stanislaus County Sheriff's deputy Royjindar Singh said.

• That stated, Ashlock and Buhler have been spotted in restaurants and movie theaters around town -- wearing their ankle bracelets, of course. That isn't part of the program, Singh said. "They're definitely not allowed to be going to restaurants for dinner, and to movies," he said. It's an honor system, Sheriff Adam Christianson said, and some of them aren't particularly honorable, or they wouldn't be in trouble in the first place. "These are two guys, in my opinion, who deserve to be in custody," the sheriff said. "We don't have the jail space. I'm as upset as anyone about this."

***

• Ashlock and Buhler preyed on people about to lose their homes to foreclosure, in some cases praying with them to get them to sign over their deeds for pennies on the dollar. [...] They scammed an 86-year-old woman with dementia, a 66-year-old schizophrenic, a woman with brain lesions and several other disabled people, according to court documents and testimony.

***

• They agreed last fall to do a year in jail for the six felony counts rather than face 50 counts and state prison time, if convicted. It already was a light sentence, considering that Bee reporter Garth Stapley found they had acquired at least 142 properties following a similar pattern. Ashlock and Buhler agreed to pay restitution to 19 and 20 families, respectively, and they've been going to court to watch their attorneys hash out how much they'll pay.

For more, see Scam artists avoid jail time, enjoy 'custody'.

Go here for earlier posts on Ashlock & Buhler.

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FTC Working On Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Thru Law Enforcement & Consumer Outreach

From the Federal Trade Commision:

• The Federal Trade Commission [Wednesday] told the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging that the Commission, partnering with other federal agencies and state and local governments, is working to prevent mortgage foreclosure “rescue” fraud through law enforcement and consumer outreach.

For more, see FTC Testifies on Efforts to Stop Mortgage Foreclosure ‘Rescue’ Fraud.

For the text of the FTC testimony, see Prepared Statement of the FTC on Foreclosure Rescue Fraud.

To watch the webcast of the Senate hearings, see Foreclosure Aftermath: Preying on Senior Homeowners.

Go here for links to the text of all the testifying witnesses.

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D.C. Foreclosure Rescue Operator Settles One Sale Leaseback Lawsuit; Denied In Request To Set Aside Verdict In Another

In Washington, D.C., The Washington Post reports:

• Five D.C. residents who say they were tricked into signing away their homes have reached out-of-court settlements that enabled them to regain ownership and a total of $455,000. The settlements end a three-year-old lawsuit, a rare happy ending for the growing number of people who claim to be victims of foreclosure rescue scams. In the suit, the elderly plaintiffs alleged that to stave off foreclosure they signed paperwork for what they thought were loans that would cover missed mortgage payments. Instead, they had signed away their homes to Washington businessman Vincent L. Abell and his associates.

With respect to the buyback terms called for in the arrangements:

• "The buyback terms were so onerous that there was no way to meet them," said N. Thomas Connally III, a lawyer at Hogan & Hartson, who, with AARP, represented the plaintiffs. "The arrangements were designed to fail from the start, and they allowed Mr. Abell to take ownership of the property by paying the former owner almost nothing." The monthly payments were often so high that many of the plaintiffs fell behind, lost their buyback option and ended up facing eviction, said Connally, whose firm worked on the case pro bono.

Regarding another case involving foreclosure rescue operator Vincent L. Abell:

• Abell's legal troubles are not over. In March, after a two-week trial in D.C. Superior Court, a jury awarded more than $3 million in punitive damages and $60,000 in compensatory damages to Maria Wilson of the District, who had separately accused Abell, his company and Baltimore of defrauding her in a similar foreclosure rescue operation. On Jan. 9, Judge Mary A. Gooden Terrell denied the defendants' motions to set aside or reduce the verdict, Connally said. "Whether she'll ultimately be able to collect from those folks, who knows?" said Connally, who represented Wilson.

For more, see Homeowners in Alleged Scam Get Settlement (Payments to 5 D.C. Residents Conclude 3-Year Legal Battle).

Go here for other posts on Vincent Abell and his associate, Calvin Baltimore. elder financial abuse whale

Loan Officer Cops Plea In Equity Stripping Of Unwitting Elderly Couple's Home

(Original post 1-31-08)
In Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, The Patriot News reports:

• Former midstate banker Constantine "Dean" Gekas' scheme to cheat an elderly West Shore couple out of their home fell apart in a Cumberland County courtroom Monday. Moments before he was to be tried on fraud charges, Gekas pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking and two counts of false swearing in exchange for a 2-year probation sentence. The plea deal struck with Senior Assistant District Attorney Daniel Sodus also requires Gekas, 44, [...], to sign over the East Pennsboro Twp. home he tried to steal from the late Chester and Lois Jasek. Sodus said the deal is designed to make the Jasek estate financially whole.

***

• Investigators said the Jaseks unwittingly signed the deed to their home over to Gekas [...] in July 2004 when he provided them with a $103,000 personal loan. At the time, the value of the Jaseks' home [...] was conservatively estimated at $260,000, Sodus said.

• Sodus said the fraud began when the Jaseks sought a bill consolidation loan through Integrity Bancorp Mortgage Co., where Gekas was a loan officer. Their loan request was approved, Sodus said, but Gekas told the couple it had been denied. Gekas then told them he could provide a loan, Sodus said. He said that while closing on that loan, Gekas had [Mr. & Mrs.] Jasek, who were in their late 70s and early 80s, respectively, sign the deed over to him. Only later did the Jaseks, who had to pay $500 a month on the loan, realize Gekas owned their house, Sodus said.

• Investigators said [Mr.] Jasek sent Gekas a $103,000 check to try to pay off the loan in April 2005, but Gekas refused to accept it. The Jaseks stopped making the loan payments, and Gekas filed a landlord-tenant action to evict them.

• Sodus said the false swearing charges are based on statements Gekas made during hearings on that civil complaint [...] during which he denied trying to deceive the Jaseks. The plea deal requires Gekas to sign over the house to a third party to be chosen by the district attorney's office, who will sell the property, Sodus said.

• He said Gekas, who said he now works for a financial firm in Scottsdale, Ariz., will receive $98,000 from the sale to satisfy some liens against the house. Defense lawyer George Matangos said Gekas must pay off an additional $60,000 in liens. All remaining sale proceeds will go to the Jasek estate, which is pursuing a lawsuit against Gekas, Sodus said.

Reportedly, between the time of the July, 2004 scam and the time of Gekas' sentencing, the elderly Mr. and Mrs. Jasek passed away. For the story, see Man takes deal for probation in house theft (no longer available online).

See also, Former banker pleads guilty in fraud case.

For more on Dean Gekas, see (March 2. 2008) Council approves plan for luxury apartments (no longer available online):

• In May 2006, the council approved a $2.5 million plan for five 4,000-square-foot town homes that project developers Constantine "Dean" Gekas and Scott Kuhn expected to sell in the $650,000 price range. But then Gekas, formerly of Wormleysburg, was charged with defrauding an elderly couple of their West Shore home. In January, Gekas pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking and two counts of false swearing in Cumberland County Court. He was sentenced to 2 years' probation.

Editor's Note:

According to the story, Gekas still has to fork over $60K as part of his criminal case. Since he is now on probation, and reportedly working for a "financial firm" and living in Arizona, a state with many elderly retirees, let's keep our fingers crossed and hope this guy doesn't scam another elderly couple to come up with the $60K.

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Salt Lake City Foreclosure Rescue Operator Facing Five Felonies In Dubious Sale Leaseback Deals With Financially Strapped Homeowners

In Salt Lake City, Utah, KUTV Channel 2 reports:

• A lot of people sign important documents without really reading them, but for an elderly Utah couple that oversight cost them their home. Emery and June Mitton were visited recently by the owner of a company called "Residential Resolve," which claims to help homeowners with financial troubles. In fact, the company motto holds, "We save homes."

***

• Seeking a resolution to their mortgage troubles, the Mittons eagerly paid attention to [Residential Resolve owner Jeff] Wangsgard's proposal. A short time later, Wangsgard then accompanied the couple to a bank and paid $13,000 toward their delinquent mortgage payments. After Wangsgard's grand gesture, the Mittons signed some documents on the spot without really reading over the fine print. What they didn't know was that one of the documents was an "assignment of beneficial interest and land trust" -- which essentially handed over the home and property to Wangsgard. Believing that the documents were merely an application for a new loan arrangement, the Mittons were shocked when, days later, Wangsgard showed up at their home with a locksmith and demanded that they leave. "He said, 'I'm here to evict you,'" June recalled. "'I'll give you some time to pack some clothes, then we are changing the locks.'"

***

• Apparently, though, several of Wangsgard's other "customers" were not OK with their deals. [Last] week, the "Residential Resolve" owner appeared in Davis County court and was charged with five felonies stemming from his dealings with the Mittons and other clients. The charges against Wangsgard include communications fraud and exploitation of a vulnerable adult.

• "Other people came forward," said assistant state attorney general Charlene Barlow. "If you have one occurrence, maybe someone is confused. But when you have two or three different people coming forward... it's a much easier case to present to a jury." The charges against Wangsgard are a direct result from the Mittons' case and two others that are similar in nature.

For more, see How A Utah Couple Was Kicked Out Of Their Home By Mortgage "Helper." (read story) (watch video).

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Stockton Man Gets Three Years In State Pen For Swiping Grandparents' Home Equity

In San Joaquin County, California, the Stockton Record reports:

• A 28-year-old man was sentenced Monday to spend three years in a state prison program working off part of a $177,000 debt that stems from a conviction for cheating his grandparents out of their Stockton condominium. Rodney Jackson has to turn himself in [next week], when he will be transported under a judge's recommendation to the Restitution Center for Men, a Los Angeles work program under contract by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge F. Clark Sueyres also ordered the Calandria Street home of Jackson's grandparents, Herman and Audrey Percy, to be sold off to recoup some of the loss.

***

• A jury in December found Jackson guilty on eight felony counts, including theft from an elder, loan fraud, identity theft and an enhancement for committing a white-collar crime with a loss of more than $100,000. San Joaquin County Deputy District Attorney James Lewis said Jackson was entrusted with helping his elderly grandparents find a new home. A flight of stairs leading up to the second-floor condominium proved too strenuous for the couple, who are in their early 70s.

• Jackson instead took out a loan on the home and pocketed the money, which triggered foreclosure, Lewis said. Herman Percy now lives with friends, while Audrey Percy is in a hospital, Lewis said.

For more, see Man to work off debt in prison program (Grandparents were cheated out of their home).

For an earlier report on this story, see Man guilty of defrauding elders.

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Retired NYC Cop With Dementia Has Home Sold Out From Under Him; One Suspect In Custody, Another May Have Fled The Country

In New York City, The Queens Courier reports:

• Two brothers are charged with fraudulently selling the Cambria Heights home out from under a retired New York City correction officer suffering from dementia. The victim’s daughter — a cop — discovered the crime. One of the brothers is in custody and the other is presently being sought internationally. Moses Brach, 30, [...] is currently in custody. His brother, Joel Brach, 27, [...] is believed to have fled to Israel. Moses [...] was arraigned [...] on a four-count indictment charging him and his brother with second- and third-degree grand larceny and second- and third-degree criminal possession of stolen property.

***

As a result of the sale of the home, a check representing the equity proceeds of $217,000 was deposited into a Wachovia Bank joint account held by the Brachs and the alleged victim. Due to the suspicious nature of the deposit, a Wachovia employee tipped off the alleged elderly victim and his family, at which point the Queens District Attorney was notified and requested that the account’s assets be frozen. The retired cop's home is now facing foreclosure.

At about the same time, the alleged victim's daughter, also a cop, discovered that her father's home was no longer in his name and had been sold to the brothers.

For more, see Brothers bilked elderly Cambria Heights man (Sold home out from under him).

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Refinancing Scam Lands Trio In Jail; Leaves Elderly Woman Facing Foreclosure

In Denver, Colorado, the Rocky Mountain News reports:

• Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey has charged three men accused of stealing thousands of dollars in a mortgage scam from an elderly woman who is now facing foreclosure. The charges were filed last week; the defendants surrendered and were booked Monday and released on $50,000 bonds. The three charged are Scott Steven Richardson, Thomas Sarantinos and Anthony Sarantinos. Each has been charged with theft from an at-risk adult. Richardson, through his company, Northglenn-based Absolute Lending Solutions, offered to refinance the woman's home to help lower her monthly payment, according to the district attorney's office. Instead, Richardson allegedly refinanced the home to take out nearly $30,000 that he and the Sarantinoses split.

Source: Three face charges in mortgage scam.

See also, The Denver Post: Trio scams at-risk adult, DA says (no longer available online):

• The charges against the trio allege that Richardson added Anthony Sarantinos to the property title and refinanced the home, taking out about $30,000 in cash that was split among the suspects. Prosecutors also suspect Richardson of giving phony mortgage payment coupons to the victim, who was making monthly payments to Absolute Lending Solutions. The payments didn't go toward paying off the home, however, and the victim now owes nearly twice as much on her mortgage. She faces monthly payments nearly double her original loan and is facing foreclosure.

See also, CBS4, Denver: DA: Grandmother Hit By Mortgage Scam (read story) (watch video).

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Two L.I. Women Charged With Pocketing $800K In Refinance, Forgery Scam, Says DA; 93 Year Old Alzheimer's Victim Now Faces Foreclosure

In New York City, the North Country Gazette reports:

• Two Long Island women, one of whom has since relocated to Pennsylvania, have been charged under New York State’s Hate Crime Law with stealing a total of $800,000 from a 93-year-old Queens man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by fraudulently refinancing a property that he owned in Bayside to steal its equity and by using a “straw buyer” to steal his primary residence in Jamaica, Queens, out from under him. One of the women is also charged with stealing the elderly man’s identity to apply for credit cards in his name.

The suspects, Alexandra Gilmore, 36, formerly of Massapequa, Long Island and presently of 1550 Clark St., Pittsburgh, Pa., and Rebecca Tharpe, 30, of Brentwood, Long Island are variously charged with multiple counts of:

1. second-degree grand larceny as a hate crime,
2. second-degree grand larceny,
3. second-degree criminal possession of stolen property,
4. second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument,
5. first-degree falsifying business records, and
6. first-degree and second-degree identity theft.

The prosecution is being handled by the Queens District Attorney's Office. For the details of the alleged scam, see:

• DA: Women Stole $800K From Disabled Man,
• Queens DA news release: Two Long Island Woman Charged Under Hate Crimes Statute For Allegedly Targeting 93-Year-Old Queens Man In $800,000 Mortgage.

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