US charges 19 in alleged nationwide mortgage scam

SACRAMENTO, 25 March —US officials said on Monday that they had charged 19 people with targeting desperate homeowners facing foreclosure and stealing at least 12.6 million US dollars through illegal mortgage and loan activities. At a news conference in the California capital Sacramento, US Attorney McGregor Scott said “Operation Homewrecker” investigated one of the largest mortgage frauds ever probed by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. “The markets in this country are tottering because nobody knows how much fraud is out there,” he said. The prosecution comes as foreclosures have risen sharply across the United States, especially in places such as California’s Central Valley. Stockton, south of Sacramento, has experienced the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Sealed indictments were filed 13 March and 28 February against 19 people — including three licensed mortgage brokers charged with cheating homeowners across the country out of their homes