Five Charged in Mortgage Fraud Scheme
The Star Tribune is reporting that the owner of a mortgage brokerage and four other employees have been charged with swindling and theft in "an alleged mortgage fraud scheme."
The article cites the Hennepin County Attorney's Office as saying that the employees at Universal Mortgage Inc., which is based in Brooklyn Park, were performing an act called "mortgage flipping," which, according to the article, involves buying and selling residential property at rigged prices.
The article also shows how the reporter tried to contact people at Universal Mortgage, getting hung up on and leaving messages that were never returned.
The article also uses the criminal complaint which states that employee's lured in people who they called "straw buyers" to buy homes owned by the mortgage company at inflated prices.