TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Two men from California have been sentenced for filing fraudulent bankruptcy petitions in Kansas to bilk homeowners who were facing foreclosure.
U.S. Attorney Lanny Welch says 43-year-old Isaac Yass, an Israeli who was living in Los Angeles, and 40-year-old Robert Andrew Blechman of Culver City, Calif., were sentenced Monday.
Yass was sentenced to five years in prison and Blechman was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. They also were ordered to forfeit $1,063,176.
Prosecutors say the men persuaded people behind in mortgage payments to pay a monthly fee to stop foreclosure proceedings. Under federal law, a bankruptcy filing automatically freezes foreclosure sales. But if the filing is false, the foreclosure moves forward.