Foreclosure scammers sentenced

Two people were sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to grand theft for taking at least $700,000 from homeowners looking to prevent foreclosure, the California attorney general’s office said.

Rosa Conrado, 51, of San Bernardino, charged with six counts, was sentenced to 72 months in prison, and Martin Jesus Flores, 33, of Baldwin Park, got three years’ probation on one count.

Alejandrina Maldonado, 33, of St. Lucie, Fla., was sentenced Feb. 26 to three years in prison in the case, prosecutor’s spokesman Scott Gerber said.

The three were principals of First Gov of San Bernardino, which claimed that it could renegotiate mortgages to prevent foreclosures, Gerber said. But First Gov never modified any loans after taking upfront fees of $1,500 to $5,000, he said.

-- Nathan Olivarez-Giles