A Florida paralegal will spend 15 months in federal prison for his role in a scheme to file false bankruptcy claims on homes to prevent mortgage creditors from foreclosing on them.
Eric Liebman, 34, of Tampa, Florida, was sentenced last week in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty to a single count of conspiracy to commit bankruptcy fraud. Attorney James Lee Clark, 59, of Wilton Manors, Florida, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of fraud for his actions in the scheme and will be sentenced in March.
Between 2010 and 2017, Liebman and Clark lied to three separate homeowners, telling them they would negotiate with creditors if homeowners transferred their properties to an entity controlled by Clark, prosecutors said. The pair filed false bankruptcy claims to prevent foreclosure while convincing homeowners to pay the pair rent or sell their homes.
Liebman was ordered to pay a combined $167K in restitution to a homeowner and creditors Nationstar Mortgage (now known as Mr. Cooper), U.S. Bank and Bank of America, although a public defender for Liebman and federal prosecutors in a Friday court filing asked for $155K to one of the victims to be paid jointly by Liebman and Clark.
Clark, as a trustee for his clients, diverted money into his law firm’s bank accounts, a court filing described, and paid for personal expenses such as gambling, travel and automobiles, defrauding his clients out of $1.3 million.
Prosecutors have asked Clark to pay a combined $1.49 million in restitution to victims including Fannie Mae, the mortgage creditors and three victims, according to a plea agreement. Clark faces up to 20 years in prison for the fraud counts, although prosecutors recommended in a December filing a sentence at the low end of sentencing guidelines.
