Anthony J. DeMarco, III, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud resulting from a $30 million mortgage fraud scheme.
DeMarco ran a foreclosure rescue agency, DeMarco REI, which was headquartered in Philadelphia, between 2006 and 2009.
Starting in 2009, DeMarco’s employees would scour public records to find homeowners, who were in foreclosure and offer them a lease sell-back program, where the company would offer to purchase a person’s home and allow them to rent the property until they could recover financially and were able to repurchase their homes. DeMarco would purchase the homes through straw investors using fraudulent papers, they would then steal homeowners equity after the sale, default on the loan payments, leaving the investors holding the delinquent mortgage.
These homeowners were then evicted from their homes. Before agreeing to a deal like the one offered by DeMarco and other rescue agencies the troubled homeowner should consult with a foreclosure attorney.
DeMarco used the money from the scheme, approximately $30 million, to support his lavish lifestyle and to buy jewelry and gifts for his girlfriend.
DeMarco was charged with mail fraud, conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud and money laundering. He is facing up to 262 months on prison.
People facing foreclosure are vulnerable to fraud, choosing to forgo the help of a foreclosure lawyer and instead they get caught up in a scam, which makes them an offer too hard to refuse. Oftentimes these homeowners have already lost their homes before they realize and it’s too late to hire a foreclosure attorney.
