WASHINGTON – A Las Vegas man was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for operating a foreclosure rescue scam that defrauded distressed homeowners who were struggling to pay their mortgages, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Daniel G. Bogden of the District of Nevada.
Alex P. Soria, 65, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Lloyd D. George in the District of Nevada. In addition to his prison term, Soria was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $320,266 in restitution.
In August 2012, Soria pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in connection with his scheme to defraud distressed homeowners and one count of theft of government funds for defrauding the Social Security Disability Insurance benefits program.
According to court documents, Soria identified homeowners whose mortgage debt exceeded the value of their homes and charged them a fee purportedly to reduce the principal balance of their mortgages using money from the Department of the Treasury’s Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Soria admitted in court that he lied to homeowners about his affiliation with several mortgage lenders and that he provided victims with fraudulent letters stating they had been approved for loans. Soria also admitted he falsely told victims that his loan program had been successful in the past and charged homeowners for loan modifications he knew he could not deliver. Court documents show that Soria concealed from homeowners the fact that the state of Nevada had issued a cease and desist order which legally prohibited him from working in the mortgage industry. Soria collected over $100,000 in fees from distressed homeowners, many of whom lost their homes to foreclosure after Soria failed to deliver the loan modifications he promised.
As part of the same case, Soria also admitted to stealing government funds by continuing to collect Social Security Disability Insurance benefits while at the same time receiving income from his foreclosure relief operation. The Social Security Disability Insurance program is a federal program that replaces the wages of individuals who become unable to work due to a disability. Soria admitted to collecting over $200,000 in disability benefits from 1990 to 2010 while at the same time receiving income that he concealed from the Social Security Administration.
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