Justice Served in Northern CA Foreclosure Scam
Despite the recent tales of woe from people who have been scammed by foreclosure con artists across the country, justice has been done in a recent case that should be of interest to anyone who owns a home.
In Northern California, a recent scam was uncovered to use homeowners going through foreclosure to defraud banks of mortgage loans. The ring of con artists had been operating in the cities of Sacramento, Auburn, Lincoln, Stockton, Elk Grove and Manteca throughout the early part of this year, and had scammed banks of over one million dollars and left many unsuspecting homeowners in the lurch.
This week, Christopher Craig, 35, was sentenced to 5 years in federal prison for bank fraud, and was ordered to pay back the remainder of the fraudulent loans, which totaled nearly $975,000. His cohorts in the scam, Donald Edgecomb and Jacob Esteves, are slated to be sentenced for their part in the scam next month. All three pled guilty, Craig to bank fraud and the other two to lesser crimes.
The scam worked like this: Craig approached homeowners who were on the verge of losing homes to foreclosure and promised loans to them. Using information and documents they provided, Craig proceeded to transfer the deeds to his partners, Edgecomb and Esteves, who had set up fictitious companies referred to as "straw" companies. With all the appearance of legitimacy, the two men were able to receive home equity loans from Washington Mutual Bank based on false information. They claimed there were no mortgages on the homes, using their "cooked-up" documents as evidence.
Using this method, the three men collected a total of $1.2 million from Washington Mutual, of which Craig paid back only a small portion before they were caught. Along with restitution of the remaining loan amounts, Craig was also ordered to be placed on supervised probation after serving his prison for another five years.
For their participation, Edgecomb and Esteves can look forward to similar sentences, keeping in mind their additional guilty pleas of "misprision of a felony," or failing to report the crime. In any case, both can also look forward to joining their friend in jail for quite some time.
Foreclosure is often the lowest point of a family's or individual's life, and increased vulnerability often makes you a target for someone practicing a scam. It's always a good idea to enlist the services of an experienced lawyer who is on your side and the side of the law, rather than trust someone who may be out to profit from your misfortunes. You can be sure that the families who were used by Craig and his cronies will think twice next time about accepting an offer that seems too good to be true.