CALIF. MAN SENTENCED IN NEW HAVEN FOR FALSE ADVERTISEMENTS

A California man was sentenced in New Haven on Wednesday in connection with using a New London-based marketing firm for advertising mortgage modification services.

John Vescera, 60, of Dana Point, Calif., was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for false advertising and misuse of a government seal. He pleaded guilty to one count of each on May 3.

According to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice District of Connecticut, Vescera was president of First One Lending Corp. in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., which offered home mortgage modification services to homeowners in the U.S. during the mortgage crisis. The U.S. Treasury Department was working with financial institutions to reduce mortgage payments of struggling homeowners through the Home Affordable Modification Program.

From February 2010 to February 2012, the New London-based marketing firm National Media Connection produced advertisements and infomercials for First One, promoting the mortgage modification services of the National Mortgage Help Center. NMHC had been incorporated by Matthew Goldreich of East Lyme shortly after HAMP was announced but operated only as a front.

Advertisements misrepresented NMHC as being affiliated with government programs and falsely stated how many homeowners had been helped. The telephone number in the advertisements sent viewers not to NMHC but to clients of National Media Connection, including First One.

First One also used the NMHC logo and name in promotional materials and misrepresented its affiliation with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development by using HUD’s seal and saying the company was a HUD-approved lender. First One had no affiliation with HAMP or any mortgage assistance programs and was not approved by HUD for mortgage modification services.

More than 300 victims lost a total of $374,622 in the scheme, many of whom were previously compensated when First One paid about $1.5 million to resolve a federal lawsuit in the Central District of California in March 2013. Vescera paid restitution of $30,320 to 24 of the victims.

Goldreich previously pleaded guilty to one count of false advertising and was charged in November 2015 to two years of probation, including three months of home confinement, a $100,000 fine and $75,794 in restitution.