Keeping a $3.8 million mortgage scam in the family

A former broker, her mother, and her former Realtor father have been convicted in a mortgage foreclosure scam

The apple didn’t fall far from the tree in this case – as a New Jersey woman and her parents have been convicted by a federal jury in a $3.8 million mortgage fraud case.

Silver Buckman, and her parents, Vincent Foxworth and Cynthia Foxworth, were found guilty of bank fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to bank and wire fraud by U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick.

They will face sentencing on January 29.

Buckman owned and operated Fresh Start Financial Services and was also a mortgage broker for American One Mortgage; her father was a Realtor, according to the Philadelphia Business Journal.

Between 2006 and 2009, the three allegedly targeted homeowners facing foreclosure and promised credit repair services as well as a “lease buyback” programs.

The three allegedly told victims they would temporarily refinance their homes and that they could be repurchased at a later date.

Buckman allegedly promised the equity from their homes would be placed in an escrow account and that new mortgages would be paid from those accounts.

However, Buckman allegedly recruited her parents and others to act as straw buyers and submitted false documents on their behalf to lenders. Once the loans were funded, the defendants allegedly distributed the funds among themselves, and used a small portion of the original homeowners’ funds for payment on the new loans. Those loans eventually went into default.

All told, the scheme cost $3.8 million in equity losses for the scammed homeowners.