Countrywide, WaMu, GE bilked

Lending units of Countrywide Financial Corp., Washington Mutual Inc. and General Electric Co. were bilked of more than $15 million by an alleged mortgage fraud ring in South Florida, according to a federal indictment unsealed in Miami on Monday.

The indictment, which grew out of a federal and state investigation into mortgage fraud, charges 31 people and lists 27 transactions said to have been conducted using falsified appraisals, titles and settlement documents dealing with homes that sold for $144,000 to $810,000.

The alleged scheme employed straw home buyers, sellers who agreed to sell for an inflated price and appraisers willing to overstate property values, according to the indictment.

“Mortgage fraud cannot be ignored,” U.S. Atty. R. Alexander Acosta said in a statement. “It has become a real and daily threat to the asset most important to most of us Floridians -- our homes.”

A similar indictment unsealed Monday in Anchorage alleges that 13 banks were defrauded of $1.7 million in 57 transactions by a mortgage company and nine people.