Cleveland-Area Prosecutor Indicts 30 In Widespread Fraud Racket

In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, WKYC-TV Channel 3 reports that 30 people have been indicted in what Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Bill Mason called "the biggest foreclosure scam Cuyahoga County has ever tackled." The indictments were announced Thursday and charged that a scheme involving 51 houses in neighborhoods throughout the county were involved. According to the story:

• Six of the 30 indicted were charged under RICO laws, accusing them of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. [...] Mason says today's indictment is part of a larger enterprise involving more than 60 million dollars in fraudulent loans by various people and more than 500 pieces of real estate. The value of the properties involved in today's indictment is nearly $5 million. Forty of the houses are in foreclosure or tax delinquent status. The indictment alleges Otis Bevel, his family, and several others were in the business of fraudulently purchasing homes. They ordered, picked up and passed on false or fictitious loan documents to title companies to submit to lenders so that a customer would purchase real estate which they were not qualified to purchase, said Mason.

For more, see Prosecutor: Biggest local foreclosure scam ever (read story) (watch video).