LAS VEGAS -- A man accused in a scheme to rip-off homeowners claims he is an idealist, and not a criminal. Last month, state investigators arrested notary Hans Johns for theft and mortgage fraud. Now Johns insists he is guilty only by association.
Johns is accused alongside two tenants who used to rent office space from him -- Alex Soria and Sonia Rodis. State investigators allege the three preyed on vulnerable homeowners facing foreclosure. Johns insists, for his part, he worked to help, not hurt, and he didn't profit from anyone's pain.
Johns' recent arrest for theft and mortgage fraud hasn't exactly been good for business. But beyond that, he insists he is accused merely by association.
"I have nothing to do with that business and I don't really know what kind of agreements were made and I never asked. It was just none of my business," he said.
Johns owns the executive suite business within a building on Sunset Road. Last month, investigators with the Nevada Attorney General's Office executed a search warrant on the space leased by the Good Government League, formerly known as Biogreen Teck.
According to court records, it housed a mortgage scheme perpetrated by Johns, Soria and Rodis.
"You can't turn a blind eye to people who were absolutely distressed, losing their home, people that had indicated they had worked for years to build up equity, made payments and really through no fault of their own, they were now being subjected to the loss of their home," said Johns.
Johns acknowledges he notarized hundreds of documents as part of Soria and Rodis' mortgage elimination program, based on what he considered a promising, though untested, legal theory.
"I thought, 'Yeah, here is the opportunity for this issue to be dealt with in the courts,'" he said.
For thousands of dollars up front, plus 10 percent of the mortgage for two years, Rodis allegedly told Ron and Dora Disbrow that she could get rid of their debt permanently because the banks had not followed the rules.
"You think, 'Oh yeah, that's great. It's got to be on the up and up,'" said Ron Disbrow.
Disbrow says he signed the documents, and then Rodis notarized them, forging Johns' signature.
"She did this. She notarized and put his name. It's his stamp, but she did it," he said.
Johns says, as far as he can remember, he had the stamp. But he does admit it is possible Rodis could have had it. He explains he served as the notary for all of his tenants, but was not intimately involved in any of their businesses, including that of Soria and Rodis.
"His bank records will show that he didn't make a dime out of this," said Johns' attorney Peter Nuttall. "He didn't know this was being represented as some sort of fail-safe method. If he did, he never would've been involved in this. He's a believer and perhaps a little naive."
Johns acknowledges the mortgage elimination program has not worked and refuses any responsibility for its failure, leveling it instead on his co-defendants, Soria and Rodis.
"My job was to notarize someone's signature. My job was not necessarily to determine the veracity of the documents or the accuracy of them," he said.
According to court records, Johns maintained contact with Soria from jail, and phone recordings between Soria and Rodis suggest Soria considered Johns' input invaluable. Johns claims he's surprised to learn he was the frequent topic of their conversations and says they obviously put more value in his involvement than he did.
