Sale Leaseback Peddler Gets 4 To 12 On Grand Larceny Plea For Duping Homeowners Into Signing Over Deeds, Then Stripping, Pocketing Their Home Equity

In New York City, the New York Daily News reports:

• The ringleader of a $2 million mortgage fraud scam targeting members of the city's Guyanese community has been sentenced to up to 12 years in prison. Roger Huggins, 36, pleaded guilty to a grand larceny charge in November for duping desperate homeowners into turning over the title to their homes so he could take out inflated mortgages and pocket the proceeds.



• Queens prosecutors say the four-year scheme defrauded homeowners and lending institutions of $2 million in equity stripped from properties valued at $8 million. Queens Supreme Court Justice Joel Blumenfeld sentenced Huggins to four to 12 years in prison Wednesday.



• "In unjustly enriching himself and his accomplices of millions of dollars, the defendant created a human tragedy of immense proportions for the homeowners who had turned to him in desperate hope of saving their homes from foreclosure," said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.



• Huggins' Richmond Hill company targeted homeowners in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

Source: Mortgage scam leader Roger Huggins sentenced to up to 12 years in prison.