Scammer Cops Plea To Illegally Pocketing $140K From Elderly Clients Promoting Phony Foreclosure Flipping Business

In Oshkosh, Wisconsin, the Appleton Post Crescent reports:

• An Oshkosh man faces prison after he was convicted Monday of two counts of security fraud and one count of selling an unregistered security in a scam that netted nearly $140,000 from elderly clients. Mark H. Brenner, 50, was found guilty of the charges [...] after entering guilty pleas to the felony charges.

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• The criminal complaint said the charges stem from a series of transactions that Brenner had with an elderly husband and wife. Brenner told the couple that his real estate business, Valley Home Buyers, purchased distressed properties, repaired and refurbished them, and then resold the properties for a profit.

• The couple invested nearly $97,000 between November 2001 and November 2002, with promises of annual interest of 10 to 15 percent. Brenner owed the couple $105,000 by November 2004, entered into another agreement with the couple, and stopped all payments in April 2005. [...] The complaint said Brenner and Valley Home Buyers never purchased a single property and that Brenner used these investment funds to pay his living expenses and interest payments. The investigation also revealed that from 1990 to 1994, Brenner was sued numerous times, resulting in money judgments against him and one foreclosure. The complaint said that Brenner never told investors of his legal woes.

For the story, see Oshkosh man convicted in security fraud scam on elderly.