Silver Buckman, 37, of Cherry Hill, and her parents, Vincent Foxworth, 70, and Cynthia Foxworth, 64, were found guilty in federal court on Thursday.
CHERRY HILL TWP. -- A township woman and her Turnersville parents were convicted in federal court Thursday of a mortgage fraud scheme that stripped homeowners facing foreclosure of the remaining equity in their homes, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Silver Buckman, 37, of Cherry Hill, and her parents, Vincent Foxworth, 70, and Cynthia Foxworth, 64, were found guilty of bank fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud and wire fraud, the justice department said. The trio's scheme cost mortgage lenders approximately $3.8 million.
Per the justice department, the trio would offer to help homeowners in distress by either offering to improve their credit, save their home from foreclosure or provide them with money through Buckman's lease buyback program. Instead, they allegedly defrauded both the homeowners and mortgage lenders.
Buckman was the owner and operator of Mount Laurel-based Fresh Start Financial Services (FSFS), was also an employee of American Home Lending as well as a mortgage broker for American One Mortgage (AOM). Vincent Foxworth is an "experienced" Realtor, according to the justice department.
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Between Oct. 2006 and Nov. 2009, Buckman and her parents told homeowners that "investors" would temporarily refinance the homes and that they could either repurchase their homes in one year or once they could afford to do so again. The victims also signed documents related to the sale and lease of the homes and were told that the equity in their homes would be placed into escrow accounts in their names.
New mortgages would then be paid from said individual escrow accounts to "establish their timely payment histories," the justice department said.
The Buckmans, among others drawn into the scheme, were straw borrowers, with Vincent Buckman allegedly submitting false financial and employment information about them to mortgage lenders.
"Once lenders agreed to fund the mortgage loans, Buckman prevented the homeowners from receiving the settlement proceeds and did not put money into escrow accounts for the homeowners," the justice department stated. "Instead, the defendants distributed the proceeds amongst themselves."
Further, Buckman allegedly used a small portion of the homeowners' monies toward paying mortgages obtained by the straw borrowers for the homeowners' homes, which caused the loans to go into default.
The trip each face between seven and nine years in prison plus restitution. U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick scheduled a sentencing hearing for Jan. 29, 2016.
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find the South Jersey Times on Facebook.
