Erich Heckler Mortgage Scammer Captured

Erich Heckler is known to many in Lee County, Florida as a professional Mortgage Scammer.  John Moritz, a private investigator located the scammer in Costa Rica, where Heckler is waiting to be extradited back to Lee County, Florida.

Heckler fled Fort Myers, Florida in September of 2007 after being charged with sixty one felonies. The charges involve a company he ran called Alternative Home Financing. However, before he could be convicted he was released on bond.  He did not show up for his court hearing in May 2008. Since that time Heckler has been living in and pulling his scam in Costa Rica.

Heckler allegedly leased properties to victims of his scam to repair their credit score and then offered them the option to buy the properties after twelve months. The fraud comes in when the leasing company keeps the rent and doesn’t make the mortgage payments. The victims’ homes then go into foreclosure and they are left with no home and their credit is ruined.

Heckler was reportedly running his scam in Costa Rica as well. There he was trying to sell investors on a Teak or Plantation the he didn’t own.  Moritz was alerted to his activities by friends whom want him to check into Hecklers background. Moritz was surprised by the fact the Heckler was traveling under his own name and even more shocked by the fact that he released on $100,000 bond in the United States back in 2007.

The victims of Hecklers scam while happy to hear that he has been captured are still bitter.  Their credit was repair and in fact his scam cost them their homes and over $30,000 per hopeful homeowner.  Hecklers scheme in total was over 3.8 million dollars.