74-year-old Kansas woman gets prison for scamming homeowners facing foreclosure
A 74-year-old Bonner Springs woman was sentenced Wednesday to a year and a day in federal prison for defrauding people who were trying to protect their homes from foreclosure, according to prosecutors.
Ruby Price was part of a group of three people who falsely promised to help homeowners by getting their interest rates lowered, lowering their monthly payments and obtaining loan modifications, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas said in a statement.
Customers who received foreclosure notices were told not to worry, according to a federal indictment.
Price and two co-defendants — Tyler Korn, 30, of St. Ann, Missouri, and Amjad Daoud, 35, of Lutz, Florida — were each charged in January 2017 with multiple counts of fraud. Price pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud.
In court records, Price’s attorney, Carl Cornwell, said Price, based on what she knew, wanted to help people behind on their mortgages. She now understands what she was doing was illegal and is remorseful, he said.
“The other two co-defendants made all of the money, it was their scheme and they recruited the defendant to be the person to do the actual work with the clients,” Cornwell wrote.
The other two defendants, Korn and Daoud, operated Reliant Home Financial Group based in the St. Louis area, and used the address of a UPS store in Overland Park. Price operated the Arize Group and rented space in Overland Park, according to prosecutors.
Korn pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Earlier this year, he was sentenced to more than four years in prison and was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution, according to court documents.
Daoud was scheduled for a change of plea hearing in January 2018, but he did not appear. A judge ordered a warrant for his arrest, court records show. He has since been indicted on a charge of failure to appear.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 1:47 PM.
