A local attorney told the Troubleshooters more people have come forward to blame a Wethersfield business for their foreclosures.
Attorney Manny Suarez now represents six clients with complaints about Deowraj "Deo" Buddhu.
Court documents describe Buddhu as running a scheme that promises customers who often don't speak English well access to a supposed stash of federal money that can help pay off their debt.
Court records say Buddhu collects thousands of dollars from his customers and tells them to stop paying their mortgages.
The result, according to court papers, is that customers like Heddy Arcos-Torres of Hartford never see a dime and they wind up in foreclosure.
"I have no words to describe this person. He seems like a nice person, but at the end he was different," Arcos-Torres said through a translator last week.
Suarez said the government money fund is fictitious and that Arcos-Torres is one of 200 alleged victims.
A judge has since vacated the foreclosure judgment against Arcos-Torres, which means she and her husband will be able to modify their loan and stay in their house.
The Connecticut Office of Chief Disciplinary Council investigates the unauthorized practice of law. The office said it has received complaints about Buddhu.
Buddhu spent time in jail for forgery and in 2008 both he and his daughter, Sunita, were permanently barred from preparing tax returns for others.
But we found someone who said he believes in Buddhu. Luis Gonzalez and his wife, Sonia, own a farm in East Windsor.
"I am 100 percent sure that what Mr. Deo is doing is completely under the law and honorable," Luis Gonzalez said through a translator.
Luis and Sonia Gonzalez, however, are at risk of losing their home to foreclosure.
The Wethersfield Police Department cannot confirm or deny it is investigating Buddhu.
According to customers, Buddhu is now telling people he's about to take an extended vacation.
Buddhu did not respond to our repeated requests for comment, only to say on the phone "if you want to believe what they are saying" before our call was disconnected.
The U.S. Department of Treasury urges homeowners to beware of anyone who asks to pay an upfront fee in exchange for a counseling service and they say don't be pressured into signing papers immediately.
