CHICAGO (STMW) – Fourteen people have been arrested in three separate alleged mortgage fraud schemes involving four homes in the Englewood neighborhood.

The arrests and charges came after federal agents posed as straw buyers of houses and sought help in financing and closing fraudulent mortgage purchases, a release from the U.S. Attorney’s office said. In each of the three cases, defendants had various roles in allegedly arranging fraudulent mortgage loans.

Two of the 14 defendants were allowed in two separate schemes and were each charged Monday with one count of bank fraud for each scheme. The other 12 were charged with one count of bank fraud in one of the three schemes, the release said. Each defendant allegedly played a role in the fraudulent transactions, including lying on loan applications and other mortgage documents.

The arrests and charges were the result of Operation Madhouse, an undercover investigation by the FBI, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division.

Those charged Monday were Muyi Shogbuyi, 57, Shamekia Kimbrough, 35, Monalisa McKinney, 32, George Livingston, 38, Kendall Jones, 45, Stanley Hayes, 43,  Thomas Underdue, 43, Lashan Hicks, 42 and Ahmed Idowu, 30, all of Chicago, and Charles Patterson, 60, of Downers Grove, Philip McMahon, 47, of Mokena, Sean McKee, 52, of Davis, Richard Stokes, 32, of Harvey, and Latoia Green, of an unknown location.

Bank fraud carries a sentence of up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

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