Drug dealing tied to mortgage scam

NEW YORK, Nov. 20 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors in New York say two men involved in a mortgage fraud scheme used some of the houses they acquired for cocaine distribution.

Robert Guerrero and Gary Jacques were indicted Wednesday, Newsday reported. The two allegedly used companies they owned in Greenlawn and Huntington Station on Long Island as vehicles for the fraud.

They were charged in a separate indictment with cocaine trafficking.

The pair allegedly operated a phony "foreclosure rescue scheme" in which homeowners in trouble were told they could keep their homes if they signed the titles over to Property Cash Inc., Guerrero's company, or Jacques' company, Home Cash Inc. They allegedly used straw buyers and inflated their credit records, flipping the properties once they had acquired them with the help of inflated appraisals.

The are accused of cheating lenders out of almost $14 million.

Prosecutors said another mortgage fraud operation bilked lenders of almost $5 million. A total of 16 people have been charged in the two schemes.