A 45-year-old Coto de Caza man pleaded guilty Friday in federal court to taking $2.2 million from homeowners in a phony loan modification scheme.
Kevin Frank Rasher pleaded guilty to 12 counts of mail fraud. He is scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 29.
Rasher’s attorney, Kate Corrigan, said she will advocate for about 5 years in prison.
Rasher represented himself to distressed homeowners in fear of losing their property as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, even though he never had a law license in California, according to the plea agreement.
Rasher told the homeowners they had been approved for a lower mortgage payment or interest rate and then told them to send their mortgage payments to one of his businesses, according to federal prosecutors.
Instead of sending along the payments, Rasher pocketed the money, prosecutors said.
In the federal case there are about 512 victims alleged.
Rasher still faces charges in Orange County Superior Court based on the same alleged schemes. State prosecutors last year alleged they had uncovered 380 victims.
Federal prosecutors said in the plea deal they would push to have any sentence in federal prison run concurrent to any punishment he receives in the state court.
–City News Service