Robert Walker, a 44-year-old North Royalton man, has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for operating a loan-modification scheme that defrauded over 90 homeowners out of $286,000.
Walker, the owner of The Modification Group (TMG), a company that solicited people struggling to pay their home mortgages or pending foreclosure, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to five counts of fraud.
According to court documents, Walker convinced homeowners to pay him and his company an up-front fee of at least $1,995, promising to obtain a loan modification. However, he did little or no work to get the loan modification for customers and regularly refused to reimburse the fees when he failed to obtain a modification.
Walker’s scheme, which operated from 2009 to 2011, involved making false representations to homeowners, including promises to lower their interest rates and eliminate or shorten second liens. He also prohibited customers from contacting their lending institution and directed them to send all correspondence to TMG.
Walker’s employees at TMG often created illegitimate reasons to void the contract and avoid refunding customer fees. In some cases, TMG never contacted the customer’s lending institution to discuss a modification, despite receiving substantial payments from the customer.
Walker’s scheme resulted in the defrauding of over 90 homeowners out of $286,000. He was sentenced to 33 months in prison and will also have to pay restitution to the victims.
The case was investigated by the FBI’s Cleveland office, and the sentence was announced by Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio.
Robert Walker, Mortgage Relief Scam, Ohio 2023 was the crime committed by the defendant.
The crime was committed over a period of 2 years from 2009 to 2011.
The defendant was sentenced to 33 months in prison and will have to pay restitution to the victims.
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Key Facts
- State: Ohio
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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