(BALTIMORE, 11/30/10) – Following an investigation initiated by the Office of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn F. Ivey today announced that a Prince George’s County Grand Jury has indicted Howard Shmuckler, 67, of Virginia Beach, Virginia for theft, conspiracy to commit theft and operating as a credit business without a license. If convicted, Shmuckler faces up to 150 years in jail.
“In our efforts to protect the citizens of Maryland, we have spent over two years working to put a halt to loan modification scams and the Shmuckler Group is among the worst that our investigators have uncovered,” said Mark Kaufman, Maryland’s Commissioner of Financial Regulation. “We applaud Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey, prosecutor April Richardson and the entire team for acting strongly and expeditiously to prevent further exploitation of vulnerable borrowers.”
The criminal indictment was prompted by a referral from the Office of the Commissioner, which issued a cease and desist order in December 2009 prohibiting Mr. Shmuckler and the Shmuckler Group from engaging in foreclosure consulting activities with Maryland consumers.
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