32 indicted in alleged mortgage fraud scheme

Associated Press

CLEVELAND

Authorities in Cleveland say 32 people have been indicted in what investigators describe as a $5.1 million mortgage scheme.

Prosecutors say loans were obtained fraudulently to buy 44 houses in Cuyahoga County. The prosecutor’s office says the homes were purchased cheaply at sheriff’s sales or from other sources and then mortgages were taken out based on artificially inflated values for the properties.

Officials say most of the houses were later abandoned and eventually went into foreclosure.

Authorities said in a news release Thursday that nine of the defendants have each been charged with a felony count of engaging in a criminal enterprise. Many of the nine also were charged with separate theft-related counts.

Prosecutors say the other 23 were indicted on theft-related charges.