DO-GOODERS BUSTED FOR SCAM THAT PREYED ON PEOPLE IN NEED

Did they use the group they founded as a cover for the scam they were committing?

ANTI-VIOLENCE GROUP LEADERS FACE CHARGES
State prosecutors allege trio ran foreclosure scam

By Jordan Guinn

The Stockton Record
December 2, 2011

SACRAMENTO - Three women coordinating an anti-gang violence movement in Stockton have been arrested in an alleged foreclosure scam, according to the state attorney general.

Magdalena Salas, 42, Angelina Mireles, 42, and Julissa Garcia, 36, who started Mothers Against Violence earlier this month, were arrested Thursday on suspicion of conspiracy, grand theft and false advertising.

The three are the top officials of a Stockton real estate company authorities allege took thousands of dollars in up-front loan modification fees and made false promises to lower the mortgage payments of homeowners in the Central Valley.

Former Stockton Councilman Ralph White, who attended Mothers Against Violence's Nov. 22 afternoon rally, said the arrest does not diminish the women's intention to reduce gang violence in the city.

"Their effort to stop violence is real; I don't care who it is, I support those who want to stop the killing," he said.

White added that complaints against people offering to help modify home loans or avoid foreclosure are common throughout the country.

An official who investigated Legacy Home Loans and Real Estate said the trio preyed on people in need.

"This operation was nothing more than a scam," Christy Romero, Deputy Special Inspector General for the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, said in a prepared statement. "Salas, Mireles, and Garcia lined their pockets with up-front fees while making false promises to homeowners of lowering their mortgage payments."

Garcia, Mireles and Salas took upfront fees of $5,000 from dozens of homeowners in the area for loan modification services that were never performed, according to the Attorney General's Office.

The allegations stem from incidents from November, 2009, to August, in which the company issued fliers in English and Spanish promising to save homes and lower mortgage payments, authorities said.

All three are being held in the San Joaquin County Jail on $100,00 bonds.