Seeking Public Assistance Identifying Hawaii Residents Who May Be Victims of Mortgage/Foreclosure Rescue Scheme

The Honolulu FBI is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying residents of Hawaii who may have been defrauded by a Missouri-based company doing business as 1st Financial Resource LLC and 1st Federal Resource LLC. The company claimed to have been operating a foreclosure abatement program demanding advance fees of $2,000 to $5,000 from Hawaii residents who had fallen behind on their mortgage payments.

On August 8, 2011, the U.S. Attorney’s office in St. Louis, Missouri announced criminal charges against Marien Brown, aka Marien White, the owner/operator of the business described above. The link to the press release is below.

The FBI believes that there are 87 separate victims in Hawaii who paid advance fees to the defendant. However, only 40 of these victims have been identified and responded to FBI questionnaires. Accordingly, there are 47 Hawaii families who may have been victimized with whom we’d like to speak.

If anyone in Hawaii wired or mailed money to Missouri in care of Marien Brown, Marien White, 1st Financial Resource LLC, or 1st Federal Resource LLC, we are asking that they directly contact the FBI office in St. Louis at 314-231-4324.