A Midway City man who deceived homeowners with promises he could help them avoid foreclosure was sentenced to nearly six years in prison, the Department of Justice said last week.
Antonio Marquette, also known as Alan Le, was ordered to repay $875,000. He was convicted last September of nine counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud and one count of money laundering.
Marquette ran Garden Grove’s Bolsa Marketing Group in 2010 and 2011, during which time he charged homeowners up to $100,000 in cash for services they did not receive, according to the DOJ.
Bolsa Marketing’s phone number was not working when called for comment Friday.
In his scheme, Marquette allegedly targeted distressed homeowners in Southern California, the Bay Area and Houston, mainly in Vietnamese communities. The homeowners paid large fees to obtain mortgage relief services.
“This defendant preyed upon vulnerable homeowners desperately trying to avoid foreclosure of their homes,” U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said in a statement. “He used false promises to extract significant fees from his victims, but he provided nothing in return.”
The DOJ said Marquette took more than $1.5 million from his victims. He promised homeowners he could reduce their debt and used false checks to pay off mortgages and filed false documents.
The Federal Trade Commisison advises never doing business with a company that: charges fees ahead of time; touts a new government program; guarantees it can make debt go away; tells you not to talk with creditors without explaining the consequences; or tells you to stop all debt collection calls and lawsuits.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau opened in 2011. It has filed 14 suits against debt relief service providers and two payment processors. Some suits named multiple companies. The CFPB has been a prime target for Republicans, who have accused it of regulatory overreach. But the bureau’s actions have led to millions in settlements for individual victims.
Legislation by Republicans introduced last week would repeal a CFPB rule that strengthens protections for consumers who use prepaid debit cards, which low-income people typically acquire as an alternative to a bank account. The protections include a disclosure of fees to be attached to the unsold cards.
The legislation would invoke the Congressional Review Act to kill the rule, which had been set to take effect in October.
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans
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