11/21/2008

Associated Press

Six people from the Springfield area are named in a 55-count federal indictment charging mortgage fraud.

Prosecutors said Thursday that the six plotted to defraud home mortgage lenders in Christian and Greene counties from January 2006 through February 2007. Three of the defendants are mortgage brokers.

Two of the suspects solicited people to buy homes with the understanding that they would return part of the purchase price to the buyer after closing. Then they filed loan applications containing false information and submitted them to lenders outside Missouri.

The lenders were not told that a portion of the home's purchase price would be returned to the buyer.

The alleged scheme involved loans for 13 houses ranging from $200,000 to $500,000. Proceeds returned to the borrowers ranged from under $30,000 to more than $100,000.

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Information from: Springfield News-Leader, http://www.news-leader.com