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Five men are scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges that they tricked hundreds of people into paying thousands of dollars in up-front fees for home loan modifications they never intended to perform. Jacob John Cunningham, 24, Dominic Adam Nolan, 30, John D. Silva, 27, all of Irvine, Justin Dennis Koelle, 23, of Costa Mesa and Andrew Michael Phalen, 25, of Mission Viejo face multiple felony charges related to the alleged three-year scam. Authorities claim they created fake home loan modification companies and sent out mailers soliciting fees to adjust customers' mortgages. The ads said they were 100% successful and would return the initial fee if the company did not complete the loan modification, according to prosecutors. It's illegal to collect fees ahead of performing home loan modifications in California. As the men collected from their victims, prosecutors said they would change their company's name, phone number and addresses. The plot developed in 2011, with the men allegedly representing themselves as CitiFinancial and CitiMortgage and offering home refinancing. Customers were asked to deposit money into the group's account at a low interest rate. The total loss is estimated at more than $65,000 nationwide. The men face sentences ranging from seven years and eight months to 21 years and eight months in prison. - Joseph Serna

The eurozone is anticipated to go back to downturn in 2012 according to a report from Shaw Capital Management by audit firm Ernst & Young. The company said it anticipates the economies of the 17 member countries to shrink in the first two quarters of 2012. The report forecasts expansion of just 0.1% for the whole of the year and warns unemployment in the eurozone is unlikely to fall below 10% before 2015.The notification was backed by economic data from Markit suggesting output continued to deal across the 17-nation bloc over the past month. Although the headline Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figure rose slightly to 47.9 but remained below 50 which indicates growth. On the Shaw Capital Management it was noted that the survey compiler alleged the slight improvement was down to strength in France and Germany, with peripheral eurozone economies still struggling. Last week, 26 of the 27 members of the EU backed new monetary principles to maintain budgets in line, with only the UK refraining. But, according to Sky News, just days later, fractures have begun to emerge as drafting of the pact begins, with some countries already airing concerns. Many also fear the pact will still not be enough to prevent more countries from needing a bailout like Ireland and Greece. According to the Shaw Capital Management, the euro dropped to an 11-month low on the back of the concerns on Wednesday, dropping below $1.30 (84p) for the first time since January. Furthermore, the governor of France's central bank has launched a substantial assault on credit ratings agencies, calling them "incomprehensible and irrational" as Paris braces for a potential reduce or eliminate of the country's triple A status. The Head of the Bank of France-Christian Nover said- aFrench reduce or eliminate would not be justified - adding that the agencies should begin by downgrading the triple A rating of Britain, which "has greater loss, more debt, higher inflation, less growth than us and where cr