A Missouri woman allegedly targeted an estimated 87 Hawaii homeowners in a mortgage relief scam, the FBI said Friday.
While the FBI receives various complaints of foreclosure abatement scams, this is the first case in which Hawaii residents were the sole targets, said FBI Special Agent Tom Simon.
Marien Brown, 41, of Wentzville, Mo., appeared Friday in federal court in St. Louis on four counts of wire fraud and one count of mail fraud, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in St. Louis charged Brown Aug. 8.
The FBI said it believes there are 87 victims in Hawaii who paid advance fees of $2,000 to $5,000 to Brown for “mortgage rescue” or “foreclosure rescue” services but received nothing in return. Brown took the money for her personal use, the Justice Department said.
The FBI has identified 40 of those households, and the FBI’s Honolulu office is trying to reach the other 47.
Since Hawaii makes pending foreclosure data readily available, which can then be sold by various mailing list companies, it’s not unusual for scammers to target Hawaii homeowners, Simon said. He also speculated that mainland defrauders focus on Hawaii because of “our remote location.”
The Justice Department said Brown, operating as 1st Financial Resource and 1st Federal Resource, identified homeowners in Hawaii who were behind in their mortgages or at risk of foreclosure.
“The number of foreclosures going on in Hawaii also makes it a target,” Simon said.
Anyone in Hawaii who sent money to Missouri in care of Marien Brown, Marien White, 1st Financial Resource LLC or 1st Federal Resource LLC is asked to contact the FBI office in St. Louis at 314-231-4324.
