Six charged in $5.5 million scam

Six New Yorkers have been charged in a mortgage scam designed to steal millions from lending institutions.

Six New Yorkers have been charged in a mortgage scam designed to steal millions from lending institutions.

Mortgage broker Alex Barrett, property managers Barthelemy Adjavehoude and Samuel Terrell Bell, title agent Michelle Baker and property managers James Bayfield and Dirk Hall were indicted in federal court for the scam, according to New York Newsday.

Prosecutors say the defendants submitted mortgage loan applications with false information to lending institutions. They also allegedly inflated purchase prices and appraisals for the properties and submitted fraudulent information about purchasers’ assets, Newsday reported.

The ring allegedly scammed $5.5 million in loan proceeds from lenders.

“Through a web of lies and false documentation, these real estate professionals allegedly stole millions from banks, which they used to line their own pockets,” US Attorney Loretta E. Lynch said in a statement.

The alleged conspirators face up to 30 years in prison if convicted.