Claremont woman pleads guilty in foreclosure rescue scheme

LOS ANGELES -- A Claremont woman pleaded guilty to bankruptcy fraud this week for her role in an illegal foreclosure rescue scheme, federal officials said today.

Robin Phillips, 53, could face up to five years in prison for her role in the scam, in which she and two accused co-conspirators filed fraudulent bankruptcy petitions to halt foreclosure proceedings against distressed homeowners.

Phillips and her co-defendants collected nearly $550,000 in fees from distressed homeowners through their scheme, which began in late 2006 and involved $725 million in mortgages, according to a U.S. Attorney's Office news release.

In exchange for a monthly fee of about $1,500, Phillips and her co-conspirators offered distressed homeowners relief from imminent foreclosure, the news release said.

The accused conspirators would first have the distressed homeowner sign a deed granting one-eighth ownership of the home to a fictitious person, the news release said.

Then, without the homeowner's knowledge, the conspirators would file a bankruptcy petition on behalf of the fictitious person, causing an automatic stay of foreclosure proceedings, the news release said.

Foreclosure proceedings on the homes would not resume until the fictitious person's bankruptcy was resolved, the news release said.

Phillips is scheduled to be sentenced April 4 in Los Angeles federal court by U.S. District Judge John F. Walker.

The co-conspirators charged in the case are Irving Cohen, 75, and Darwin Bowman, 74. Both men are from Van Nuys.