"Repeat Offender" Foreclosure Rescue Operator Gets 22 Years For Scamming Homeowners Facing Foreclosure, Banks Out Of $5M

In Orlando, Florida, the Orlando Sentinel reports:

• Convicted once before in New York of mortgage fraud, Garry Martin moved to Orlando to bilk homeowners and banks out of more than $5 million in recent years, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Anne C. Conway sent Martin, 36, to federal prison until 2032 and ordered the real estate broker to pay more than $1 million to his victims, U.S. Attorney's spokesman Steve Cole said.

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• Martin had been convicted in 2006 for similar crimes and prohibited from dealing in real estate. But he obtained a real estate sales agent license and a real estate broker's license upon moving to Central Florida. He created Antigua Housing and Management Inc., Antigua Abstract LLC and several other companies on South Semoran Boulevard. "Through Antigua H&M, Martin obtained money from people facing foreclosure by promising that Antigua would bring their past mortgages current through refinancing and forward their payments to their lenders," a report states on his sentencing. "He then used the foreclosure payments himself and did not pay the banks."

For the story, see 2nd conviction for mortgage fraud gets Orlando man 22 years in federal prison.