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Las Vegas man arrested in mortgage fraud case
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
A Las Vegas man was arrested Thursday after federal authorities accused him of defrauding distressed homeowners who were attempting to refinance or adjust their home mortgages.
The arrest of Alex Soria, 64, came a day after he was indicted on six counts of wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, one count of concealment of information from the Social Security Administration, and one count of theft of government funds.
According to the indictment, Soria had worked in the mortgage lending industry since about 1970. He is accused of engaging in the fraudulent scheme from about May 2008 to January 2010.
Soria appeared Thursday afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. in Las Vegas and pleaded not guilty to the charges. He was released on his own recognizance.
The indictment accuses Soria of falsely telling homeowners he was a loan officer with Amwest Capital and that he could help them obtain relief with their mortgages through two federal programs. The indictment also accuses him of falsely telling homeowners that he had helped others obtain financing.
"In truth, Soria's Nevada mortgage agent license had expired in April 2008 and he lacked licensing or status to help the homeowners obtain financing through the federal programs," according to a statement from the U.S. attorney's office in Nevada.
Soria is accused of fraudulently collecting about $17,000 from 15 homeowners. He did not obtain government assistance for any of those victims, authorities said. The defendant also is accused of unlawfully collecting Social Security disability benefits from 1990 through 2010. His trial is scheduled for June 27.
Anyone with information about potential mortgage fraud in Nevada may call the Southern Nevada Mortgage Fraud Hotline at 584-5555.
Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710.
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everyone s guilty until proven innocent. thats the way it is anymore, bust yourself out with bail money and lawyer fees, its the second largest industry in nevada behind gambling. all the judges and cops need to be fed off the system.
Um read the article. he's going to trial in june. looks like he's a thief, and stealing money from desparate homeowners, and lying to collect social security. most likely using the money he stole to hire a defense lawyer. if proven guilty, he should be beaten to a pulp for being a crook.
FBI news flash: American Invsco/Nicholas S. Gouletas & his goons committed massive mortgage fraud at the Meridian Private Residences - collusion between the developer, lenders, appraisers & title companies; Fannie Mae Fraud - AI submitted falsified documentation to Fannie Mae (out of 678 units less than 15 units were owner occupied - the majority were investors); SEC violations - AI knowingly sold the condominiums as securities - using their 2 to 3 year pay for everything plan to hook investors into buying (AI simply inflated the condo prices to include the pay for everything plan...the owners paid themselves out of their own money as reflected in the HUD statements with payments at closing going to CRS, AI's Rental Service Company); made investors purchase furniture for the illegal hotel program which was shut down by Clark County in 2008 and in many cases never put the furniture in the units as they were contracted to do; illegally kept control of the HOA to allow their scheme to continue on; commingled funds; left the HOA in dire straits when they finally turned it over to the owners - little cash in either the reserve account or operating account; illegally converted the condos from apartments - electrical & plumbing; failed to disclose the fact that the Flamingo Gate entry drive was not owned by the Meridian; used unlicensed Real Estate Agents to sell condos at the Meridian - most were from Chicago as were the unskilled laborers used to do the illegal work; straw buyers - some units were never lived in at the Meridian, even to this day! Yep, AI is some company, 40+ years of experience with perfecting their very own version of the Get Rich American Ponzi Scheme...and will continue to do so with the protection they seem to be getting from Federal Judge Kent Dawson, the Chicago FBI, the Daley Family and it leaves me wondering just how high up the protection goes... I agree with Tahoe.DI - the Feds/US DOJ need to start going after the big fish.
Whatever happened to innocent until PROVEN guilty??? Last time I looked being indicted was not the same as being convicted. So glad our government is going after someone for that whopping $17k. Spend a few hundred thousand government dollars for that. Prudent.
Wow, $17 K....???? This is peanuts compared to a lot of other loan officer's who embezzled tens of thousands or millions of $! But this small timer will get hammered for his actions ! Go after all the other big fish !
If the FEDS want a real criminal they need to look no further than Konstantinos A. Kouris, who lost his mortgage agent license; has run a number of unlicensed businesses such as TravelLinkUnlimited; illegal limousine service; illegal property management company; rented out bank owned condominium units at the Meridian Private Residences, by in many cases just drilling out the lock and placing a tenant in the unit as if he was the owner; stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars from one investor; is doing work as a Nevada Real Estate Agent, but of course is unlicensed to do so; in his fraudulent bankruptcy he has multiple mortgages on the same house in multiple states - mortgage fraud in the millions; he has collected room taxes on rentals that room taxes did not apply on - where did the money go?; assaulted one of his illegal workers on video at the Meridian because the worker asked to be paid what he was owed - worker was afraid to press charges out of fear that they would be sent back to Mexico; has employees but has no workman's compensation insurance on any of them; tax evasion - not claiming income from his illicit businesses; hiding assets & income from the bankruptcy court; units that he has saved from foreclosure at the Meridian he has become a 50-50 silent partner in - such as with Cletus Woo Unit 7-434 at the Meridian; and his girlfriend Lyudmyla R. is aiding and abetting him. Mr. Kouris is nothing but a scamster, in my humble opinion and belongs behind bars far more so than the Mr Soria of this article.
He will NOT get jailtime!!! He will merely pay a fine, like everyone els so far, the FINE is only a small portion of the money HE STOLE!!!!! Just go to the MORTGAGE LENDING DIVISION WEBSITE> They are still looking for someone to replace the Commissioner that was FIRED< who by the way was the CEO of New Century Mortgage the largest sub-prime lender that went BANKRUPT DUE TO FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ONLY IN NEVDA THE STUPIDEST STATE IN OUR COUNTRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The Mortgage lending Division should HIRE NANCY CORBIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and TRULY PROSECUTE THE CROOKS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@ Big Julie... C'mon now. Not everyone here are crooked. Let this be a lesson to those who do scam. Ahem.... Local Government! Big Gas Co. I miss the days I can fill my car and just cruise around. Now I have to walk.
A Vegan accused of fraud? Wow thats something unusual.
.....time for him to do the perp walk.....he'll be doin prison time for sure....lol.....he asked for it and i hope he gets a lot of time.