A certified public accountant accused of using his authority to vouch for false information on loan applications is facing a little over a year in jail for his role in scamming distressed homeowners.
U.S. District Judge Kenneth Marra in the Southern District of Florida sentenced Barrington Coombs, 58, of Weston, Fla., for his part in a foreclosure-prevention scheme that targeted distressed borrowers.
The scheme involved a company called Foreclosure Solution Specialists, which contacted troubled borrowers, offering them a chance to sell their homes to investors to prevent foreclosure. The scam’s leaders promised homeowners they would be able to stay in their homes and repurchase them at a later date. However, the homes were sold off to straw borrowers, and the homeowners eventually lost their properties with no real recovery in sight.
Coombs was convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, as well as one count of wire fraud.
He was charged for writing a fraudulent letter that vouched for false information made on home loan applications.
Coombs is the last of three people sentenced for involvement in the scam. The two key parties who operated the scheme, Lisa Wright and Cathy Saffer, have already received prison sentences that stretch at least five years.
