Last week, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced his office secured a nearly $60,000 judgment against a fraudulent mortgage broker, who charged hundreds to thousands of dollars in unauthorized expenses to the credit cards belonging to his residential customers.
Mark C. Busack, owner of Major Savings Inc., received a 2-year, 11-month sentence in federal prison, after pleading guilty to four counts of using an unauthorized access device and a single count of filing a false S corporation income tax return.
The Attorney General’s civil complaint, filed in coordination with the state’s Division of Financial Institutions, essentially covered the same allegations and recently led to summary judgment of $58,555.36.
The Attorney General’s Office commenced an investigation into Major Savings in 2013. The Wheeling-based corporation operated as a car wash, bar, catering business, restaurant and a home loan mortgage broker.
The order granting summary judgment states Busack would request credit card information as part of processing the customer’s mortgage. He then charged hundreds to thousands of dollars to the cards without the customers’ knowledge or consent.
Busack would offer excuses and reasons for the charges, but the order states Busack used money obtained through his scheme to pay for business and personal expenses. Excuses ranged from it having been a simple mistake, to fees required to “shop” the loan and banks demanding proof as to the consumers’ existing finance accounts.
The judgment orders that Busack pay $33,555.36 in restitution; a $20,000 fine for violations of the state’s Mortgage Broker Act and $5,000 for violations of the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act.
