Four men have been jailed for their parts in a mortgage fraud scheme in the US state of North Carolina.

The fraudsters used fake letters of credit (L/Cs) as one of several tools to obtain US$6 million by deception from homebuyers, banks and other lenders in the scheme.

Mobile homes

The fraud centres on former real estate developer, Daniel Rooks, along with his father, his staff and some associates.

Rooks bought land on which he built mobile homes before selling them to people on low incomes who could not afford the repayments on the mortgages he arranged.

Jail terms

The four men jailed in this instance were Brian Causey, Horace Mayo, Michael Fluharty and Tyrone Ford.

They have been jailed for terms of between four and 18 months after pleading guilty to charges of conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud.

Fake L/Cs

The four prepared loan applications for more than 150 loans using fake L/Cs and supplied lenders with false information on borrowers' employment history, income and other assets.

Only two of the fraudulently obtained loans were not foreclosed on.

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