The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California have announced that three individuals charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud for their roles in operating a mortgage loan modification scam were sentenced Friday in a federal court in San Diego.

Ziad Nabil Mohammed Al Saffar was sentenced to serve 21 months in federal prison and Sara Beth Bushore Rosengrant was sentenced to serve 12 months of home detention as part of a three-year probation term. In their guilty pleas, the two admitted that they operated the loan audit and modification scam, located in San Diego, under the names Compliance Audit Solutions Inc. and CAS Group Inc. Daniel Al Saffar admitted that he worked as a sales representative in connection with the operation and was sentenced to serve six months of home detention as part of a three-year term of probation.

The defendants each made a restitution payment in an amount of $30,000 prior to Friday's sentencing hearing. As a part of his plea agreement, Ziad Nabil Mohammed Al Saffar, who is not a U.S. citizen, stipulated to being deported following the completion of his sentence.

"These sentencings are the result of a fraud scheme that specifically targeted the most vulnerable homeowners struggling to cope with the collapse in the housing market," says Christy Romero, special inspector general at SIGTARP. "[The defendants] mass marketed their scam with Web sites such as www.HAMPnow.org as if it were affiliated with HAMP and other federal mortgage aid programs. That reassurance was nothing more than a lie to dupe victims out of what little money they had left and is evident of a profound disrespect for those suffering through and bearing the brunt of the housing crisis. SIGTARP and its law enforcement partners will continue to pursue TARP-related fraud and bring accountability to American taxpayers."