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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
Feb. 29, 2008
LOS ANGELES MAN CHARGED WITH FILING FRAUDULENT BANKRUPTCY CLAIMS IN KANSAS
Federal indictment alleges Isacc Yass told homeowners in foreclosure
he could solve their problems
TOPEKA, KAN. – A federal indictment in Kansas accuses a Los Angeles man of running a scam in which homeowners who were behind on their mortgage payments paid him to hold off foreclosure by filing fraudulent bankruptcy petitions.
Isacc Yass, 41, is charged in a federal indictment unsealed Friday in Topeka with six counts of mail fraud and six counts of aggravated identity theft. He was arrested Thursday in California.
“The indictment alleges Mr. Yass fraudulently represented to home-buyers who were delinquent in their mortgage payments that he could stop foreclosure, prevent them from having to file bankruptcy and free them from having to make mortgage payments,” said U.S. Attorney Eric Melgren.
According to the indictment:
– Yass solicited homeowners who were going through foreclosure proceedings. He told them that for a fee he could help them keep their houses.
– Yass filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in federal bankruptcy court in Topeka, Wichita and Kansas City, Kan. The petitions were filed in the name of nonexistent businesses that claimed to be part owners of properties that were in foreclosure.
– The result was an automatic stay in the foreclosures, halting any further actions by creditors against the properties.
According to the indictment, Yass used the U.S.Postal Service to deliver fraudulent petitions to the bankruptcy court. The petitions contained false names and Social Security numbers, and addresses for the creditors that were in fact mailboxes or UPS Store locations in Kansas.
“Bankruptcy foreclosure schemes are aimed at homeowners in financial distress,” said Richard Wieland, United States Trustee for Kansas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico (Region 20). “We appreciate the efforts of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General as we work together to pursue the perpetrators of these schemes, in order to protect homeowners as well as the integrity of the bankruptcy system. We welcome information that will help detect bankruptcy foreclosure schemes, and we encourage citizens to report suspected bankruptcy fraud through our Internet hotline at USTP.Bankruptcy.Fraud@usdoj.gov.”
Yass faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison and a fine up to $1 million on each count of mail fraud, and a mandatory 2 years and a fine up to $250,000 on each count of aggravated identity theft. The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Social Security-Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Trustees Office worked on the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hathaway and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Kenney are prosecuting.
As in any criminal case, a person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. The indictment filed merely contains allegations of criminal
conduct.
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