Two Chesapeake men indicted in alleged foreclosure scam

Two Chesapeake men have been indicted by a Norfolk federal grand jury on nine charges related to an alleged foreclosure rescue scheme, federal officials announced Thursday.

The charges against Philip Villasis, 41, and Ray D. Gata, 56, include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and money laundering.

If convicted, Villasis faces up to 150 years imprisonment and Gata, 90 years, according to an announcement by Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, and Dean Bryant, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The announcement states that criminal indictments are only charges and not evidence of guilt.

From November 2006 until February 2011, “Villasis and Gata engaged in a foreclosure rescue scheme that defrauded homeowners and mortgage lenders,” according to the indictment as cited in the government announcement.

Villasis allegedly “promised homeowners that he could save them from foreclosure by arranging a sale of their homes to Gata and other straw borrowers.”

Homeowners were promised that they could stay in their homes after the sale and pay rent, and Villasis would resell their homes back to them once they were “more financially secure,” according to the government’s announcement.

“Villasis and Gata profited from this scheme by taking all of the proceeds from the home sales,” it states.

The pair are alleged to have “executed false closing documents that showed the proceeds of the sale going back to the homeowners when, in fact, the proceeds were going to Villasis, Gata and the other straw borrowers.”

Homeowners, according to the government, “received nothing from the sale of their homes while Villasis, Gata and others received in excess of $170,000.”

“In almost every case, Villasis required the homeowners to pay more in rent to cover a larger mortgage, and he ultimately evicted these homeowners from their homes,” the government’s release states. 

The case was investigated by the FBI.

Melissa E. O’Boyle, assistant U.S. attorney, is the prosecutor.

Robert McCabe 757-446-2327 or robert.mccabe@pilotonline.com