Dix Hills man sentenced to 3 to 6 years in prison for home loan scam
A Dix Hills man who prosecutors say scammed dozens of Long Islanders out of more than $600,000 as part of a Nassau County-based home loan modification scheme was sentenced Monday to 3 to 6 years in prison.
Mark Savransky, 59, who pleaded guilty last year to grand larceny and fraud charges, was also ordered to pay $601,546.92 in restitution to his victims — some of whom nearly lost their homes as a result of the scheme, prosecutors said.
“Today’s sentence sends a strong message to those who would prey on vulnerable homeowners during tough financial times in their lives,” Nassau District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement, which credited Suffolk County and Bronx authorities for help on the case. “Victims were close to losing their homes because of this defendant’s scheme and lies."
In a six-year stretch beginning in 2008 — the height of the subprime mortgage crisis — Savransky, operating under the name "Mark Savran," promised help in modifying mortgages to homeowners in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Savransky told the victims — many of whom had subprime mortgages — he would hold their mortgage payments in trust and forward them to the financial institutions servicing the homeowners’ mortgages, prosecutors said.
But instead, Savransky kept the money, spending it on child support, car payments, gasoline and travel expenses, prosecutors said. He also used the money at restaurants, grocery stores, department stores and the streaming service Netflix.
Savransky's attorney, Joseph Conway of Mineola, declined to comment.
At least 32 people fell victim to Savransky, prosecutors said, including residents of Amityville, Baldwin, Bayside, Brentwood, the Bronx, Brooklyn, East Northport, Farmingdale, Hempstead, Hicksville, Huntington, Levittown, Lynbrook, Malverne, Merrick, Mount Vernon, New Hyde Park, Queens Village, Richmond Hill, Riverhead, Uniondale and Westbury.
Savransky's scheme included his telling the victims to pay him their mortgage payments — to create a pyament record that would prevent lenders from denying receipt of payments or reneging on the mortgage modifications, prosecutors said. He also requested payment in cash or by check, with the payee line blank, which he later filled in with his name, prosecutors said.
After the mortgage payments weren't made, banks began the foreclosure process, prompting some homeowners to complain to Savransky, prosectuors said. In some cases, Savransky reimbursed some of the stolen funds.
Savransky was arrested in August 2015 by detectives assigned to Singas’ office and he was arraigned on grand jury indictment charges in October 2017, prosecutors said. Savransky faced a maximum prison term of 1 to 6 years.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
