NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

BETH PHILLIPS

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov../index.html

JULY 12, 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OVERLAND PARK MAN SENTENCED FOR FRAUD SCHEME

            KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Overland Park, Kan., man has been sentenced in federal court for actions taken as part of a bank fraud scheme that forced several low-income homeowners into bankruptcy by saddling them with more debt than they were able to repay.

            Harris Poulikidis, 62, of Overland Park, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ortrie D. Smith on Friday, July 9, 2010, to two years and nine months in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered Poulikidis to pay $62,100 in restitution to individual homeowners who were defrauded in the home improvement refinancing scheme, as well as $58,252 in restitution to financial institutions that made loans on behalf of the victims.

            On March 16, 2010, Poulikidis pleaded guilty to causing an individual to travel across state lines as part of a fraud scheme. Poulikidis admitted that he caused a homeowner to obtain a $61,500 loan from Fremont Investment and Loan to refinance a mortgage and to provide approximately $19,350 in home improvements by Poulikidis’ company, Roofing & Siding Plus. On the same day, Poulikidis caused the homeowner to obtain a second mortgage, a $9,000 loan from his company. The second mortgage was later sold to another financial company.

            Poulikidis assured the homeowner that her new payments under the refinancing would be no more than, or less than, what she was paying previously. In reality, however, the monthly payments increased so much that the homeowner could not afford them and filed for bankruptcy.

            This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Daniel Stewart. It was investigated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

****************

This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

http://www.justice.gov../index.html