Owner of Connecticut Media Agency that Falsely Advertised Mortgage Modification Services is Sentenced

WASHINGTON, D.C. – November 9, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MATTHEW GOLDREICH, 46, of East Lyme, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to two years of probation, including three months of home confinement, for producing and disseminating false advertisements for mortgage modification services. Chief Judge Hall also ordered GOLDREICH to pay a $100,000 fine and $75,794 in restitution.

The advertisements included toll-free telephone numbers for mortgage borrowers to call for help modifying their mortgages. In truth, NMHC did not provide mortgage modification services for any homeowners, and operated only as a front. Homeowners who called the toll-free telephone numbers advertised by NMHC were routed to National Media Connection’s clients. The clients, in turn, paid National Media Connection for these “leads.” Under the pretense of helping homeowners modify their mortgages, certain National Media Connection clients then charged the homeowners fees and provided no services whatsoever in return.

This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP), U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development – Office of Inspector General, and Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Avi Perry and Liam Brennan.

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