California Mortgage Scammer Gets 9 Years in Prison

by Moe Bedard · 2 comments

in scams

A California man was sentenced to nine years in prison and ordered to pay more than $12 million in restitution for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme in Highgate.

Benjamin Osmanson, 31, former proprietor of Highgate Manor inn, pleaded guilty in September to three counts of conspiracy, wire fraud and money laundering related to his scheme to defraud lenders by submitting false loan applications in the names of “investors,” according to a news release by the U.S. attorney.

Osmanson’s co-defendant, Jillian Protzman, was sentenced Monday to six months in jail and ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution.

Read more from the Billington Press

{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Trey January 13, 2010 at 10:06 am

Hi Mr. Bedard,

I am writing to you regarding your blog, Loanworkout.org. I know that you have been providing a lot of information on the suit against the scammer American Modification Agency, and I know that homeowners who have been scammed have come to your site for information. It seems that many who have been victimized actually comment and share their stories with you. Briefly, I am a volunteer attorney with an organization called the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is in Washington D.C. We’re currently organizing a campaign that seeks to encourage victims of alleged scams to report these scams to our database. The data obtain by us will be used in turn to help facilitate law enforcement efforts.

I wanted to know whether you would be willing to provide me any information on some of the victims. We’re currently working with national news media to put together a possible story on these types of scams. This story may include interviews with the victims. Would you know of any, or be able to give me any contact information? Thanks in advance for your help on this matter.

Trey

2 Trey January 13, 2010 at 10:08 am

I am writing to you regarding your blog, Loanworkout.org. I know that you have been providing a lot of information on the suit against the scammer American Modification Agency, and I know that homeowners who have been scammed have come to your site for information. It seems that many who have been victimized actually comment and share their stories with you. Briefly, I am a volunteer attorney with an organization called the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which is in Washington D.C. We’re currently organizing a campaign that seeks to encourage victims of these scams to report them to our database. I know you’ve reported specifically on the law suit involving the American Modification Agency.

We are currently working with a national news media outlet to put together a story on these foreclosure rescue scams. Part of this story may include interviews with possible victims of these scams. Would you know of any victims who would be willing to tell their story to a national news media outlet? Could you provide any contact information for these victims?

Thanks,
Trey

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