Suspected Head Of N. California Foreclosure Rescue Racket Cops Plea; Accused Of Recording Bogus Land Documents In Attempt To Stall Foreclosure Process

In Alameda County, California, KGO-TV Channel 7 reports:

• The focus of a 7 On Your Side investigation into a suspected foreclosure rescue scheme pleaded no contest [...] in an Alameda County courthouse. 7 On Your Side has been following this closely for 10 months.



• Alan David Tikal entered his plea just hours before jury selection was to begin in his trial on a 29 count grand jury indictment on mortgage fraud. Prosecutors say this plea means the 15 victims it named in this case are now eligible for restitution.



• Alan David Tikal has been in jail since being arrested in Las Vegas on a grand jury indictment in February. Prosecutors accuse him of posing as a private banker, then refinancing the mortgages of distressed homeowners.



• The grand jury determined it was all part of a conspiracy to defraud people out of their property. On Monday, Tikal pled no contest to one felony count of filing false documents to transfer the property from the bank to himself. He also pled no contest to illegally accepting advanced fees for a loan modification.

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• Tikal agreed to pay any amount of restitution the judge ordered, but it also means the other 27 counts against Tikal have been dropped. [...] Only those victims in Alameda County specifically named in the indictment are eligible for restitution, but the prosecutor says the conviction shows this was all a scam.(1)

For more, see Man pleaded no contest to mortgage fraud scheme.

See Bay Area Grand Jury Indicts Four In Alleged Foreclosure Rescue Racket; Filed Fraudulent Documents In Bogus Attempts To Stall Legal Process: DA for an earlier post on this racket.

(1) In an earlier story (The Modesto Bee: Man jailed in Stanislaus realty scam (He awaits extradition; officials say he peddled phony foreclosure)), Tikal was once famously quoted as making this statement to the prospects to whom he peddled his phony foreclosure rescue scam:

• "If there's a way for the bleeping banks to put me in jail, I would already be there."