Glencoe Financial Adviser Mary Martinez, Charged With Swindling Foreclosure Victims Saving for New Homes, Pleaded Guilty and Was Sentenced in 2022

Case from 2020–2022 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: Aug. 17, 2020; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

Mary Martinez, also known as Mary Flores, a Glencoe, Illinois, financial adviser charged in 2020 with swindling clients who wanted to buy homes after foreclosure, pleaded guilty in June 2022 and was sentenced that October, according to the federal court docket [2]. The terms of her sentence were not available in the public records we could access.

What prosecutors alleged

According to the August 2020 indictment, as described by prosecutors [1]:

1. Radio ads to foreclosure victims: Martinez owned companies including Illinois Housing Solutions, America Investment Corporation and Investor Short Sale Niche, and advertised on the radio offering to help people who had lost homes to foreclosure buy another home and improve their credit.
2. Taking savings: From 2011 to 2020, she allegedly made false representations to get investment money, including retirement savings, college funds and personal savings.
3. Misuse: Instead of helping clients save for a down payment, she allegedly spent a substantial portion on her own personal and business expenses, including rent and retail purchases.

The indictment alleged losses of at least about $450,000.

The person charged

Mary Martinez (also known as Mary Flores), of Glencoe, Ill. (53 when indicted)

• Indictment (Aug. 13, 2020): 10 counts of wire fraud [1].
• Plea (June 17, 2022): a change-of-plea hearing was held and a plea entered before U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman, according to the docket [2].
• Sentencing (Oct. 17-19, 2022): sentencing hearings were held, and judgment was entered Oct. 26, 2022. We could not find the sentence terms in public sources.
• Investigation: U.S. Postal Inspection Service, HUD Office of Inspector General, the Labor Department's Employee Benefits Security Administration and the Illinois Securities Department.

Red flags

• Radio or social ads promising to rebuild credit and get you a home after foreclosure.
• Requests to hand over retirement or college savings to a private company to "hold" for a down payment.
• One firm offering credit repair, mortgages, real estate and investments all at once.

What to do if you're targeted

1. Keep down-payment savings in an account in your own name at an insured bank.
2. Work with a HUD-approved housing counselor (1-888-995-HOPE) on rebuilding credit and buying again.
3. Report suspected fraud to the Illinois Securities Department and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
Mary Martinez (aka Mary Flores), Glencoe, Ill.	N.D. Ill. (Judge Coleman), No. 1:20-cr-00497	Indicted Aug. 13, 2020; plea entered June 17, 2022; sentenced Oct. 2022 (judgment Oct. 26, 2022); sentence terms not found in public sources	[1], [2]

If you have a public record of the sentence, write to us at the address below.

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "North Suburban Financial Adviser Indicted on Fraud Charges for Allegedly Swindling $450,000 From Clients," Aug. 17, 2020. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/north-suburban-financial-adviser-indicted-fraud-charges-allegedly-swindling-450000
2. CourtListener, docket for United States v. Martinez, No. 1:20-cr-00497 (N.D. Ill.). https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/17450304/united-states-v-martinez/

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