Foreclosure Scam Artist Gets Federal Prison Time

Associated Press - May 31, 2008 9:23 PM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A California judge sentenced a man to almost seven years in federal prison for stealing money from people who paid him for lists of properties available through government foreclosures.

A U.S. District Court judge sent Mark Allen Davis to federal prison for 81 months and fined him more than $328,000 in restitution after Davis entered guilty pleas on identity theft and mail and wire fraud charges.

Davis' indictment says he placed newspaper ads around the country that offered the foreclosure lists for a 1-time fee of $83 or $93.

Customers were given a toll-free phone number and asked to verify their identities by providing their bank account information.

Prosecutors say Davis never sent the lists, and that he took between $126 to $185 from 800 different people and stashed them in accounts he held under names of people he met through Alcoholics Anonymous.

Information from: San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle