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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - Federal indictments have been issued against a Highland, Utah, couple accused of using false bids to secure inflated loans for million-dollar homes.
Prosecutors say the couple purchased high-end homes but would then use straw buyers to falsely raise the purchase price and receive larger mortgages.
Forty-year-old Portia R. Louder has been charged with three counts of false statements to financial institutions, three counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. Her husband, 41-year-old Chad Louder, has been charged with two counts of false statements to financial institutions.
If convicted of all charges, the couple could spend decades in prison.
Portia Louder told The Associated Press late Thursday that she's hired an attorney and would fight the charges. They will seek a speedy trial because the investigation has gone on for five years.
She says they've tried to convince the government that there's not a case because everything that they did "was above board."
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
