An Irvine man has been sentenced to eight years in prison after admitting to dozens of felonies involving a multimillion-dollar loan modification and money laundering scheme.

Assad Suleiman, 48, pleaded guilty late last week to 64 felony counts, including money laundering, grand theft and second-degree burglary. He was ordered to pay about $1.5 million in restitution.

Prosecutors allege that Suleiman was connected to a “sophisticated loan modification scheme” that used multiple business names and defrauded nearly $2.3 million from 387 homeowners. Also charged in connection to the alleged scheme are Suleiman’s brother, Kevin Suleiman, 39, of Irvine and his ex-wife, Rosa A. Barraza, 45, of Santa Ana.

According to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Suleimans and Barraza ran the loan modification operation under a variety of business names, including the Jefferson Legal Group in Los Angeles, The Simplify Law Group in Irvine, Synergy Law Center in Anaheim and Wilshire Debt Advisors in Irvine. Despite the names of the businesses, none of the operations involved any lawyers, prosecutors said.

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The businesses charged advanced fees for promised loan modifications, according to the DA’s office.

Prosecutors allege that if the loan modifications were not approved, the businesses would stop communicating with the client.

If the modifications were approved, prosecutors said the defendants would lie to the homeowner and say they needed to pay a trial or lump sum payment in order to cover taxes or other “fraudulent” fees.

According to the DA’s office, many of the homeowners were told by the defendants to stop making mortgage payments to their lenders in order to prove that a loan modification was necessary. They often didn’t realize what was going on until their lenders began foreclosure proceedings against their homes.

When complaints against one of the multiple business entities began to pile up, prosecutors allege, the defendants would contact the homeowners using the name of one of the other businesses, a practice the DA’s office referred to as a financial “hit and run.”

Kevin Suleiman and Barraza are still awaiting trial. Barraza is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial hearing on July 30, while Kevin Suleiman is scheduled to appear in court on July 27.