Ladera Ranch Resident Gets 2 Years for Ripping Off Credit Card Company

A 46-year-old attorney facing disbarment at the end of October was ordered today to report to jail for two years for his role in ripping off a credit card company for more than $200,000, an Orange County prosecutor said today.

Christopher Lee Diener, 46, pleaded guilty Friday to grand theft and admitted a sentencing enhancement for theft exceeding 200,000, according to Deputy District Attorney George McFetridge.

Diener, who had offices in Irvine and lived in Ladera Ranch when he was arrested in January 2010, failed to show up for his trial by the State Bar of California, and he is expected to lose his law license Oct. 30, according to the bar’s records. Diener was accused of representing clients in states where he was not registered to practice law such as Massachusetts and Nevada.

Diener was arrested in January 2010 in connection with home loan modification fraud, along with business partners Stefano Joseph Marrero and Terrence Green Sr., both of whom were neighbors

Diener and his associates were alleged to have victimized more than 400 homeowners,

prosecutors said at the time.

That case, however, was dismissed after a preliminary hearing, McFetridge said.

Diener, Marrero and Green were indicted in a scheme to rip off Irvine- based Group ISO Merchant Services as part of their loan-modification company, McFetridge said.

Diener lied on his merchant account to get a line of credit to operate the loan modification company, McFetridge said. The company guaranteed payment and Diener drained a reserve fund to cover charge backs, leaving Group ISO responsible for the refunds, McFetridge said.

Green pleaded guilty to misdemeanor conspiracy Sept. 30, 2011 and was given 30 days in jail. Marrero pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and, on Sept. 29, he had the conviction expunged.

Green and Merrero were in business together first and Diener came aboard later, McFetridge said.

“Once they had Diener involved he pushed them out of the picture and it was his show,” McFetridge said.

Diener was ordered to report to jail in February to begin a two-year sentence, McFetridge said. Orange County Superior Court Judge William Froeberg, who offered Diener the plea deal, allowed the defendant to get out of jail to tend to “medical needs,” McFetridge said.

If Diener fails to report to jail, he could face up to five years behind bars, McFetridge said. Diener has failed to make at least one court appearance in the past.

At Friday’s hearing, executives with Group ISO Merchant Services in Irvine said the theft “caused their business to flounder and they had to lay off some employees, and ask remaining employees to delay cashing their paychecks,” McFetridge said.

Diener, Green and Merrero still face allegations of fraud in a civil suit filed by the Attorney General against their business Home Relief Services LLC, McFetridge said.

--City News Service

PHOTO Patch file photo.

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