(Source: USAO, CT) Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that JOHN VESCERA, 60, of Dana Point, Calif., waived his right to indictment and pleaded guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to false advertising and misusing a government seal in connection with the provision of mortgage modification services.

According to court documents and statements made in court, VESCERA was the President of First One Lending Corporation (“First One”) in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.  During the peak of the national mortgage crisis, VESCERA and First One offered home mortgage loan modification assistance to homeowners across the United States, including in Connecticut, who were having difficulty repaying their mortgage loans.

From approximately February 2010 until approximately February 2012, VESCERA and First One solicited clients through television advertisements and infomercials produced by National Media Connection of New London, Conn.  These advertisements touted the mortgage modification services of an entity known as the National Mortgage Help Center (“NMHC”).

Matthew Goldreich, of East Lyme, Conn., had incorporated NMHC approximately two months after the U.S. Treasury Department announced that it would partner with financial institutions to reduce struggling homeowners’ monthly mortgage payments through a program called the Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”).  HAMP consisted of a number of incentives to encourage homeowners and financial institutions to modify existing loans on owner-occupied primary residences in order to help keep these properties out of foreclosure...