(Harrisburg) -- Victims of a wide-ranging central Pennsylvania Ponzi scheme have been awarded $30 million in restitution. State Attorney General Linda Kelly says the suit was filed in 2008 against several people linked to the now-defunct OPFM mortgage firm that operated in Lancaster and Berks counties. The money will go to more than 800 families in a dozen counties who were bilked out of an estimated $40 millionover 19 years by the firm's owner, Wesley Snyder. A Berks County judge has found five mortgage consultants as well as the woman who served as OPFM's bookkeeper and office manager acted in concert with Snyder. They marketed and sold "wrap mortgages" and "loan participation agreements," which were promoted as ways to reduce interest rates and pay-off mortgages more quickly. Snyder and his wife, Sydney, are responsible for more than $28.6 million in restitution, while the others are on the hook for nearly $1.5 million. There's no word on how or if the money will be collected. Snyder is currently serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to one count of mail fraud.










