10 Miami-Dade residents indicted in $24M mortgage fraud scheme

Ten Miami-Dade county residents have been indicted for connection with a $24 million mortgage fraud scheme involving six residential properties, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida has announced. Alain Hernandez, a mortgage broker, allegedly operated under the organization Miami Dade Mortgage Professionals in preparing fraudulent paperwork to obtain mortgages, while other defendants acted as straw buyers. Ana Blanco, who has also been indicted, provided the forum for closings to take place at her Trinity Closing Group, after which the defendants would flip the properties amongst themselves, the District Attorney’s office said. When the defendants ran out of money and defaulted on their mortgages, the scheme apparently unraveled. Washington Mutual, Impac Lending Group and Loan City were among lenders who suffered $7 million in losses related to foreclosures fr10om the scam, according to the District Attorney’s office. [SFBJ]