A Mesa police officer and his wife are charged with residential mortgage fraud.
KPHO reports Blanca and Mark Escarcega have pleaded not guilty after being booked Monday.
Mark Escarcega is on leave until police conduct an investigation.
The couple bought a home four years ago in Mesa.
The Maricopa County attorney’s office says Blanca Escarcega later wrote a hardship letter to the couple’s lender, Bank of America, asking for a loan modification.
She claimed the couple had separated.
Court documents say Bank of America gave her a loan modification, stipulating she live at the house for at least another year.
But the county attorney’s office says the couple never separated, but rather rented out the home and bought another.
Hotcopone posted at 8:00 am on Sat, Apr 23, 2011.
OH yeah, crime of the century here. They should have just walked from the house and shafted the bank like mostly everyone else is doing.
What they did wasn't right but they lied by saying they were separated. Whoa, they got a loan modification so they can keep making payments.
Now they should just walk away from it and let the bank have it back. Small potatoes in comparison to all the others who didn't get their hands slapped when they were lying to all the lenders and the lenders knew it and didn't care.
They should be looking at the bigger picture. I remember contacting the FBI when I had an employee who lied on the loan application to get a loan. I owned a Mortgage Bank here. Had all the evidence showing it was a fraud back in 2003 three months into the mortgage this person never made a single payment.
The FBI told me there wasn't anything they were going to do about it. They too turned their heads prior to and during the boom.
So, you've gotta blame the Gov't for most of this debacle with the housing industry. The govt was told and told to control the mortgage industry and they turned a deaf ear to all of it. Even when they should have been prosecuting they wouldn't. Now all of as sudden their are concerned with the petty BS when they are stepping over dollars to save pennies.
This guy must have pissed someone off who knew what he was doing and then some pin head figured they would make an example of this. What a joke!
cactusjumper posted at 11:12 pm on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Naaa! Tell me it ain't so. A police officer who never upholds the LAWS of our state? Hey, welcome to tent city senor. Have fun cuz I know the 'boys' will.[beam]
Kickin posted at 6:29 pm on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Back. Not bank.
Kickin posted at 6:27 pm on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Maybe it was between the modification or giving the bank the rental bank. They had to be upside down in it to qualify. They should have given the dead investment back to the bank instead of trying to keep it like everyone else is doing.
Leon Ceniceros posted at 12:23 pm on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
THE LINE JUST GOT SHORTER AT ...........DUNKIN DONUTS........LOL.
DrunkenMonkey posted at 12:11 pm on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Nah... they were Democrats... obviously they weren't lying... they were separated... AND he "was not having sex with that woman"... BTW... no one was inhaling either.
Carolyn posted at 10:42 am on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Must be Republicans - they'd consider that just a good way of "doing business." However, if they were able to scam Bank of America, one of the biggest SCAMMERS of all times, I have to give this couple SOME credit for at least TRYING.
901fan posted at 10:21 am on Fri, Apr 22, 2011.
Shame on you. You should have known better than to do that.