Pinoy telemarketer in US charged over mortgage scam
A Filipino based in Anaheim, California, was charged with elder abuse and grand theft after allegedly duping Filipino-American senior citizens of more than $50,000 in a mortgage refinancing scam, reports said.
A report on SF Chronicle said Sajid Geronimo, 35, posed as a loan officer named James Alkin at a fictitious company called HLA Processing in 2012.
He allegedly promised his victims, who faced home foreclosure, a reduction on their monthly mortgage payments by hundreds of dollars through refinancing programs.
Geronimo, who faces more than 10 years in jail if convicted, would allegedly ask them to fill out fraudulent loan applications, then send them fake loan approval letters using the Citibank Mortgage letterhead.
Victims would then deposit to an escrow account, which prosecutors said was actually Geronimo's personal account.
He did not enter a plea during a court hearing Tuesday and will remain under custody until December 16, when he must prove that his posted bail of $100,000 did not come from felonious means.
Authorities arrested Geronimo last November 26 at the Los Angeles International Airport customs after his return from the Philippines, according to a report on San Jose Mercury News.
Prosecutor Charlie Huang said there may be more victims in Orange County and Washington state, and urged victims of the scam to contact John Carrillo, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 408-792-2977. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News
A report on SF Chronicle said Sajid Geronimo, 35, posed as a loan officer named James Alkin at a fictitious company called HLA Processing in 2012.
He allegedly promised his victims, who faced home foreclosure, a reduction on their monthly mortgage payments by hundreds of dollars through refinancing programs.
Geronimo, who faces more than 10 years in jail if convicted, would allegedly ask them to fill out fraudulent loan applications, then send them fake loan approval letters using the Citibank Mortgage letterhead.
Victims would then deposit to an escrow account, which prosecutors said was actually Geronimo's personal account.
He did not enter a plea during a court hearing Tuesday and will remain under custody until December 16, when he must prove that his posted bail of $100,000 did not come from felonious means.
Authorities arrested Geronimo last November 26 at the Los Angeles International Airport customs after his return from the Philippines, according to a report on San Jose Mercury News.
Prosecutor Charlie Huang said there may be more victims in Orange County and Washington state, and urged victims of the scam to contact John Carrillo, weekdays from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 408-792-2977. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News
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