Feds say 12 members of 1 NY family obtained $20 million in fraudulent mortgages

Twelve members of a single family were charged Thursday with lying to lenders to obtain more than $20 million in mortgage loans over the past decade, most of which went into default.

An indictment unsealed in federal court in White Plains charged Irving Rubin and his relatives with conspiring to defraud and conspiring to make false statements. It alleged that family members used the proceeds to pay their credit card debts and their own home mortgages and to fund other real estate projects.

The U.S. attorney planned a news conference for later Thursday to provide details.

The defendants include Rubin, his wife, two sons, three brothers and five in-laws. A lawyer and an appraiser also were charged.

There was no immediate information on defense attorneys or hometowns.

The indictment said family members lied to lenders about their assets, income, employment and primary residence to obtain mortgages on at least 18 properties they claimed to own, most of them in Brooklyn.

The lies gave "the false appearance of creditworthiness, when in fact the assets and/or bank accounts were nonexistent" or were not fully owned by the applicant, the indictment said.

It said they "engaged in extensive efforts to perpetuate and conceal" the scheme. For example, some of the defendants allegedly made sham transfers among themselves, "thereby confounding attempts by lenders to recover on defaulted loans," the indictment said.

Several defendants also were charged with fraudulently receiving hundreds of thousands in food stamps, Medicaid and home-heating help.

"At the same time that the defendants were representing to banks that they had substantial income and assets, they were also representing to state and local agencies that they had little or no income and assets and were eligible to receive various forms of public assistance," the indictment said.