A federal fugitive was indicted last Friday in the Central District of California for operating a foreclosure rescue scheme that promised to postpone foreclosure sales for more than 800 distressed homeowners.
Glen Ward, who was arrested in Canada on April 5, was charged on two counts of bankruptcy fraud, one count of mail fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
According to the indictment, Ward solicited and recruited homeowners whose properties were in danger of imminent foreclosure. He allegedly promised to delay their foreclosures as long as the homeowners could pay him $700 a month.
Once a homeowner paid the fee, Ward accessed a public bankruptcy database and retrieved the name of an individual debtor who recently filed for bankruptcy. Additionally, Ward obtained a copy of the debtor’s bankruptcy petition and directed his clients to execute, notarize and record a grant deed transferring a very minimal interest in their distressed home into the name of the debtor.
Then, Ward allegedly faxed a copy of the bankruptcy petition, the notarized grant deed and a cover letter to the homeowner’s lender representative, directing it to stop the impending foreclosure sale due to the bankruptcy.
Because bankruptcy filings help protect debtors’ from being evicted from their properties, the lenders were forced to cancel the foreclosure sales. The lenders involved in this scheme, such as banks that receive funds under the Troubled Asset Relief Program, could not move forward to collect money that was owed to them until getting permission from the bankruptcy courts.
As part of this scheme, Ward delayed the foreclosure sales of approximately 824 distressed homes by using at least 414 bankruptcies filed in 26 judicial states. From July 2007 to April 2012, the defendant collected more than $1 million from his clients who paid for these services.
“Con artists who seek to victimize homeowners in distress are truly shameless,” said Andre Birotte Jr., U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. “The long arm of the law can and will find and reach such financial pirates wherever they hide, and we will be tireless in our pursuit of justice for the people they victimize.”
Ward became a fugitive in 2000 when he failed to appear in court after signing a plea agreement for charges associated to a similar scheme.
Bankruptcy fraud carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Furthermore, the maximum sentence for mail fraud is 30 years, while each aggravated identity theft charge carries a two-year mandatory, consecutive sentence.
