New York Foreclosure Scam Artist Convicted

Posted on November 13th, 2008 by saman

Maurice McDowall, a New York man involved in one of the many foreclosure rescue scams going on all over the country, has officially been convicted and sentenced for his crimes. He was charged with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and was sentenced ten years in prison. Mr. McDowall was also ordered by the judge to pay $100,000 in restitution. He will also have to give up his profit from the crime, which is said to be $2.5 million dollars.

Obviously, scams aimed at desperate homeowners who will do anything to save their homes from going into foreclosure have become extremely lucrative. Homeowners are being hit with advertisements from all directions. Flyers come in the mail, phone calls are received, and about everyone with an email account has received at least a few internet solicitations. Many homeowners latch onto the promises in these ads and are willing to send large amounts of money to companies which may or may not be legitimate. The end result for many of these homeowners is even more trouble than they had to begin with.

Mr. McDowall was involved in a particular scam aimed at foreclosure victims, which is said to have lasted over a year. He worked with five others in Brooklyn and the Bronx. These others have also pleaded guilty and received sentences of their own at this point.

Aleksander Lipkin pleaded guilty to his part in this scam back in June. He will be sentenced October 10 and could receive up to 30 years prison time. He will have to give up $7 million in profit from the scams.

All six people involved in this scam were indicted at the end of last year. Allegedly, they obtained numerous titles to homes through fraudulent means and took out more than $20 million in loans against the titles. They did this by convincing homeowners behind with their payments to transfer their deeds to third parties. They convinced them that these third parties had great credit ratings, allowing them to take out larger mortgage loans or home equity loans. The newly borrowed money would then be used to pay off the original mortgages so the homeowners could prevent going into default or getting a foreclosed home.

Once homeowners desperate enough to fall for this scam signed over the deed to their home, McDowall, Lipkin and their accomplices kept millions of dollars from the new loans they took out. Some of the homeowners they supposedly “helped” are still fighting to save their homes and now have even larger loans to pay off.

Some of these homeowners spoke in court to the judge about their experience working with McDowall to save their homes and the even worse conditions they suffered after the scam had been done.

More and more of these scams are occurring all over the country as more and more homeowners become desperate to save their homes.