Florida mayor charged in $8 million straw-buyer scam

The mayor of a Miami suburb has been charged in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme

The mayor of a Miami suburb has been charged in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme.

North Miami Mayor Lucie Tondreau is currently attending a convention in Las Vegas, but federal agents plan to arrest her when she returns to town later this week, according to a Miami Herald report.

According to the Herald, Tondreau and three other suspects are accused of using straw buyers to purchase 20 properties in 2006. Tondreau is accused of using her radio program to recruit buyers for the scam.

Tondreau is currently in Las Vegas attending RECon, the annual convention of the International Council of Shopping Centers, the Herald reported.

She’s also the subject of a separate investigation in which state prosecutors tied bulk requests for absentee ballots to her campaign office, according to the Herald. Florida law prohibits absentee ballot requests coming from anyone but the voters themselves.