Vegas Man Cops Plea To Peddling Bogus Loan Modification Ripoff; Suspect Targeted Underwater Homeowners With Phony Principal Reduction Offers

From the U. S. Department of Justice (Washington, D.C.):

• A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty [] to operating a foreclosure rescue scam that defrauded distressed homeowners who were struggling to pay their mortgages, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.
  
  Alex P. Soria, 65, pleaded guilty [...] to one count of wire fraud and one count of theft of government funds in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners who were behind on their mortgages.
  
  According to court documents, Soria identified homeowners whose mortgage debt exceeded the value of their homes and charged them a fee purportedly to reduce the principal balance of their mortgages using money from the Department of the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP).
  
  Soria admitted in court that he lied to homeowners about his affiliation with several mortgage lenders and that he provided victims with fraudulent letters stating they had been approved for loans.
  
  Soria also admitted he falsely told victims that his loan program had been successful in the past and charged homeowners for loan modifications he knew he could not deliver. Court documents show that Soria concealed from homeowners the fact that the state of Nevada had issued a cease and desist order which legally prohibited him from working in the mortgage industry.
  
  Soria collected more than $100,000 in fees from distressed homeowners, many of whom lost their homes to foreclosure after Soria failed to deliver the loan modifications he promised.

For the Justice Department press release, see Las Vegas Man Pleads Guilty to Foreclosure Rescue Scam and Theft of Government Funds.