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February 11, 2012

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Mortgage rescue scam operator sentenced in Las Vegas

Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010 | 3:47 p.m.

The operator of a mortgage rescue scam run from the Philippines was sentenced Tuesday in Las Vegas and will be required to pay partial restitution to his victims.

Michael Sinclair pleaded guilty to one count of mortgage lending fraud and was given five years of probation with a suspended prison sentence of 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years by District Court Judge Michael Villani, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto said.

Sinclair will be required to pay $29,853.56, half of the restitution he owed prior to sentencing, to his victims and another $300 to pay for his extradition from the Philippines.

Sinclair’s company, called Federal Housing Aid, included a call center in the Philippines.

The company would contact homeowners facing foreclosure and offer to stop the foreclosure proceedings and save their credit, the Attorney General’s office said.

The victims would pay an up-front fee between $700 and $1,500, but the company would take no action after receiving the payment, and many of the callers ended up losing their homes. Some of the victims were older than 60, the Attorney General’s office said.

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