Orange County

Man Charged in Alleged $2M Home Loan Modification Scheme

A man was set to appear in court Friday on charges he posed as a government lawyer to defraud hundreds of struggling homeowners of $2 million and using the money to pay for personal expenses, including renting an upscale Orange County home for more than $10,000 per month, prosecutors said.

Kevin Frank Rasher allegedly operated a loan modification scheme from June 2011 through April of this year, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.

Rasher allegedly represented himself as an attorney for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, though he has never had a law license in California, and offered to help 380 distressed homeowners reduce their mortgage payments.

Instead, prosecutors allege, he pocketed the money and spent it on renting a home in the private Orange County community of Coto de Caza, among other monthly expenses that amounted to more than 20,000 monthly.

Rasher, who's being held on $1 million bail, is charged with 46 counts of grand theft and one count each of second-degree burglary and aiding a false or fraudulent tax return, all felonies, with a sentence-enhancing allegation for property damage or losses of more than $65,000.

City News Service contributed to this report.

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