A New York broker has been indicted for conspiring to defraud 350 financially strapped customers of more than $1.2 million. Between June 2011 and August 2012, alleged the broker offered property buyers private lender loans of 105 percent of the property’s selling price at a 4.99 percent interest rate, regardless of the buyer’s credit score, as long as the buyers had jobs that generated enough income to qualify for the loan amount and monthly payments. 

According to court documents, the broker required the buyers to pay him an up-front fee of $2,500 per loan, which he claimed covered loan processing fees and the appraisal.