Nine Southland residents were among 11 defendants arrested Thursday on federal charges accusing them of participating in a $6 million fraud scheme that targeted homeowners, many of whom are elderly and had their identities stolen.
In the first stage of the scheme, fraudulently obtained personal identifying information of homeowners was used to create counterfeit identification documents. Email accounts in the victims’ names were then registered to impersonate them.
Using the phony ID documents and email addresses, the defendants allegedly misrepresented themselves as the victims’ agents, brokers, representatives or relatives, and submitted bogus applications to private money lenders for cash loans secured by the victims’ properties in Santa Monica, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, Westwood and Chinatown, court papers show…