41 people indicted in Florida in scheme to inflate mortgages

Luis Andres Henao | Miami Herald

MIAMI — Forty-one people have been charged with taking part in a $40 million mortgage-fraud scheme, federal authorities said Tuesday in Miami.

Acting U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Sloman said the fraud involved a network of fake purchasers, crooked mortgage brokers and cooperative bank employees who arranged for inflated mortgages.

In mortgage-fraud scams typical during the boom, a team of mortgage professionals -- often including attorneys, mortgage brokers and appraisers -- would pay stand-in buyers to use their identities to get mortgages for the purchase of inflated properties. They would often never make payments on the loans and the homes would soon enter foreclosure.

Read the full story at MiamiHerald.com.

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