Seven Orange County residents have been indicted for allegedly participating in a scheme to rip off distressed homeowners in Connecticut and elsewhere in the country with phony promises of mortgage relief, officials said Tuesday.
The defendants are accused of cold calling distressed homeowners in New England, New Jersey, Oklahoma and elsewhere with promises of mortgage relief for a fee during the peak of the Great Recession in March 2009, according to the indictment.
California prohibits upfront fees for help with mortgages. The fees in this case were about $2,500 to $4,300, according to federal prosecutors.
Most of the residents did not qualify for relief and little was done to help them, prosecutors alleged.
Authorities announced they seized about $350,000 from various bank accounts and about $362,000 from a Bitcoin account as well as a $100,000 cashier’s check and a 2013 Ferrari 458 Italia.
The defendants, who will face authorities in Connecticut, are:
• Aria Maleki, the alleged mastermind of the scheme, 33 of Santa Ana;
• Mehdi Moarefian, also known as Michael Miller, 36, of Irvine;
• Kowit Yuktanon, also known as Eric Cannon, 31, of Huntington Beach;
• Cuong Huy King, also known as James Nolan, 32, of Westminster;
• Daniel Shiau, also known as Scott Decker, 30, of Irvine;
• Serj Geuttsoyan, also known as Anthony Kirk, 33, of Santa Ana and;
• Michelle Lefaoseu, also known as Michelle Bennett, 41, of Huntington Beach.
–City News Service