He offered to help struggling homeowners save their Saline homes from foreclosure, but authorities say all Bryan Crevier delivered were empty promises and widespread fraud.

Crevier, 48, is charged with multiple counts of larceny for allegedly swindling nearly $10,000 from three Saline women within a few months in 2008. 

Bryan Crevier

The Grosse Pointe man was scheduled to appear in Washtenaw County Circuit Court Wednesday, but his pre-trial hearing was adjourned to June 9 at his attorney’s request. He remains free on a $10,000 personal bond.

Saline police began investigating Crevier in the spring of 2008 when three city residents reported he took money from each of them up front for loan refinancing services like closing costs, appraisals and fees. The women, ages 47, 58, and 60, were all friends dealing with financial hardship and were in danger of losing their homes. 

Though he presented himself as a mortgage modification consultant and had each resident fill out official applications, Crevier never filed the women’s paperwork with lending institutions, police reports said. By the time they suspected him of fraud, Crevier had stopped returning their phone calls and e-mails. When officers visited his Troy home that fall, it was vacant and appeared abandoned, police said. 

For roughly a year, Crevier essentially disappeared. His phone numbers were disconnected and e-mails and letters went unreturned, police reports said. Local officers left the case open and didn’t get a break until Roseville police arrested Crevier for similar crimes in late 2009. That arrest culminated a three-month long probe into his dealings with a family trying to refinance, police said. 

“This was old-fashioned detective work, and it ultimately paid off,” said Detective Sgt. Keith Waller of the Roseville Police Department. Waller noted he had to sift through scores of financial documents, cell phone records, and e-mails to track Crevier to a Grosse Pointe home that records show belonged to his girlfriend’s mother. 

Crevier is also charged with one count of larceny by false pretenses of more than $20,000 in Macomb County.

Shortly after his arrest, Crevier told Saline police he had to deal with a lender based in Illinois whom he never met due to tightening credit restrictions, reports said. He said he sent that man a portion of the women’s money to cover appraisals and underwriting fees, and kept some to cover immediate costs here while the mortgages were pending. He did not keep records of the alleged transactions, police said.

Crevier then said he lost contact with the Illinois man and realized something was wrong, but still kept the money. He didn’t return the victims' calls on his attorney’s advice, reports said.

When asked what he had been doing since his last contact with Saline police, Crevier proclaimed his innocence and insisted he was helping people.

“(I’ve been) filling out loan applications for my clients, keeping people out of foreclosure,” he said, according to reports. “I didn't go to another state. I didn't hide.”

Investigators contacted a former supervisor who said the company had no record of the loan officer Crevier mentioned. Crevier only closed one of eight deals he opened with the company, police reports said.

“It’s just a shame that somebody would take advantage of someone else who’s vulnerable due to the economic conditions,” Saline Detective Don Lupi said. “People need help and someone comes in and kicks them when they’re down.”

Crevier’s attorney, Michael Courtney, did not return messages. Court records show a recent motion to have his entire statement to police excluded at trial was denied.

Watch a Fox 2 Detroit video on the Roseville case:

Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.