Guy Samuel, Mortgage Modification Scheme, New York 2014

Seven individuals, including co-owner Guy Samuel, and four former employees of a company that purported to provide mortgage modification services, have been charged in connection with a multi-million dollar mortgage modification scheme.

The scheme, which victimized over 500 financially struggling homeowners across the country, allegedly saw the defendants tell homeowners one lie after another, promising to help them modify their mortgages but instead defrauding them out of millions.

The defendants, who were arrested earlier this morning, will be presented in Manhattan federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Frank Maas.

According to the allegations contained in the Indictment, the Informations unsealed today, and statements made in related proceedings, from approximately January 2009 to June 2011, the defendants perpetrated a scheme to defraud homeowners who were in danger of losing their homes.

The scheme allegedly involved instructing victims to stop paying their mortgages immediately, transfer thousands of dollars in upfront fees to their company in exchange for false promises of a guaranteed mortgage modification, and cease all communication with their mortgage lenders.

After allegedly swindling more than 500 struggling homeowners nationwide out of $2.3 million in ill-gotten proceeds, Samuel refused to provide refunds to victims for whom he and others did little if any work.

In addition to the indictment, two former employees, Scott Schreiber and Darrell Keys, have already pleaded guilty to their participation in the scheme.

Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said, ‘This Office has zero tolerance for those who would target already distressed borrowers in hopes of turning a profit at their expense, and we will continue to work to hold these and like-minded defendants accountable.’

Christy Romero, the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said, ‘Samuel and his coconspirators stand charged today with ripping off struggling homeowners desperately trying to keep a roof over their heads in the midst of the nation’s housing crisis.’

George Venizelos, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, said, ‘Struggling homeowners became easy prey for these defendants, who allegedly lured their victims into a false sense of security by promising to save them from financial burden in exchange for a fee.’

In total, the defendants are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and multiple counts of mail and wire fraud, and the scheme resulted in the loss of over $2.3 million.

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