The U.S. Postal Inspection Service confirmed Monday that it has raided the home of Wesley A. Snyder, the president of a bankrupt mortgage-brokerage business that has saddled 800 homeowners with tens of thousands of dollars of additional, unexpected mortgage debt.
Oriey Glenn, the acting inspector in charge of the Philadelphia Postal Inspection Service, said items were taken during an Oct. 12 raid involving Snyder's companies Personal Financial Management Inc. and Image Masters, which operated offices in Lancaster and Berks counties.
"There were items taken, but I cannot talk about what they are because this is an ongoing investigation," Glenn said Monday.
Glenn said a sealed warrant was obtained by the U.S. Attorney's Middle District Office to seize items from Snyder's home in Oley, Berks County. The action came as a result of complaints by Snyder's customers accusing him of mail fraud.
No fewer than five agencies — the postal inspectors, the Pennsylvania Securities Commission, the state Department of Banking, the state attorney general's office and the U.S. Attorney's office — are investigating Snyder's businesses.
Snyder, who has not been charged, is president of six companies that filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation in Philadelphia federal bankruptcy court: OPFM Inc., doing business as Personal Financial Management Inc.; Image Masters Inc.; Discovered Treasures Inc.; Dividit Inc.; and Mortgage Assistance Professionals Inc. I and II.
A federal judge last week froze Snyder's assets. U.S. District Judge Yvette Kane issued the order late Friday afternoon against his assets and bank accounts.
Prosecutors suspect Snyder of defrauding 800 customers, including nearly 300 from Lancaster County, out of millions of dollars.
Snyder's mortgage customers learned last month that the mortgages they had signed with his companies did not exist. Snyder informed his customers that as a result of his companies' collapse they were responsible for larger mortgages he had taken out in their names.
Glenn would not confirm whether the items taken from Snyder's home in the raid helped government lawyers make the argument that Snyder was running a mail-fraud scheme that affected his customers and "numerous" financial institutions.
According to court records, officials believe Snyder is attempting to sell or otherwise encumber his property and assets while U.S. Bankruptcy Court trustee Lynn E. Feldman and the Pennsylvania Banking Department try to sort through thousands of documents produced by Snyder's businesses during their more-than 20 years in operation.
Snyder's business dealings are the subject of legal action in at least three courts.
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State Sen. Michael Brubaker, who helped arrange for lawyers, accountants and other professionals to meet with mortgage victims at Farm and Home Center, said Tabor Community Services will make six counselors available Wednesday and on Oct. 31 for those affected by Snyder's business collapse. To make an appointment at Tabor, call 397-5182, ext. 144.
Brubaker is exploring whether the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency can help those victims struggling to make monthly mortgage payments, which in many cases have gone up by 50 percent since Snyder's business collapsed.
Currently, PHFA can assist only those who already are in foreclosure proceedings. It would take legislation from the General Assembly to grant exemptions to allow those victims to receive PHFA funds before they are foreclosed on.
Thousands of Pennsylvania families faced with the possible loss of their homes through foreclosure have received help from the Homeowners' Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program. Created by Act 91 of 1983, it is the only one of its kind in the nation, according to PHFA's Web site.
The program is designed to protect those who, through no fault of their own, are financially unable to make their mortgage payments and are in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure.
HEMAP funds used to prevent foreclosure are not a grant. The funds are a loan and must be repaid by the homeowner.
E-mail: pburns@lnpnews.com