ORLANDO, Fla. -- Dozens of Central Floridians claim they were lured into real estate deals that left them fighting for their financial lives in what may be one of the biggest scams in Central Florida, according to a Local 6 News report.

The report featured Joan and Mary, who asked to remain anonymous, and their complaints about Chuck Gunter and Bruce Sarafian.

Gunter and Sarafian ran a company called Livewire Properties Inc., the report said.

Joan and Mary were among a group of people who did business with the company. They were paid upfront lump sums of cash in exchange for letting Livewire use their credit to purchase homes, according to the report.

They made up to $7,000 for each purchase Livewire made using their credit, the report said.

In the mortgage industry, the process is called straw-buying.

"And the straw-buyers, like Mary and Joan, often don't know what they're getting themselves into," Local 6's Steven Cooper said.

"I feel like I've been raped," Mary said.

"Holy smokes, they have lied to me the whole time," Joan said.

The homes purchased with Joan and Mary's credit were supposed to be turned into rent-to-own properties that Livewire would manage.

Livewire would find tenants, collect rents, pay the mortgages and other expenses for the duration of the rent-to-own agreement.

"Keep in mind, the mortgages remained in the straw-buyers names," Cooper said. "So imagine the shock when Livewire notified the straw-buyers last fall that the market had turned so badly, the company was turning the properties back to them."

"Then, I started freaking out," Joan said.

Apparently, Livewire had not been making all the mortgage payments, Cooper reported. And now all those straw-buyers are facing foreclosures on their homes and complete obliteration of their credit.

"Can't they just turn around and sell the homes to the tenants or other buyers?" Cooper said. "Not so easy, since many of the homes were allegedly over-appraised, so, Gunter and Sarafian could make huge sums of money on the front end."

"Livewire Properties was taking $40,000 to $50,000 of the front end of these properties at the closing table," Joan said. "How can they do that?"

"Typically, the lender, when they approve a settlement statement, they only look at the buyer side--not the seller side," independent fraud investigator Doug Pollock said. "The bad guys know this so they put a lot of the fraud on the seller's side of the statement."

Many of the settlement statements in the Livewire deals show large sums of money coming off the seller side, according to the report.

"Look at the list price on a house, $385,000," Cooper said. "And, look at what it is on the settlement paper, $460,000."

"The kickback of that money will show up as assignment fee, repairs," Pollock said.

"Indeed, we find money for a so-called assignment fee and repairs that may or may not have been done," Cooper said.

"And the investigators, if they follow the trail of the money, they will solve the crime and they will arrest those responsible," Pollock said. "There's no place for Mr.Gunter or Mr. Sarafian to hide."

Cooper approached Gunter in Longwood, Fla.

"What happened to the money Livewire properties took on the settlement statements?" Cooper asked. "What happened to that money?"

Local 6 showed video of a door shutting.

Sarafian did not answer Cooper's questions either.

The state will likely look into how these deals went down and who might have profited by defrauding a bank or lender.

"In cases like this, there may be many links in the chain and many nervous people," Cooper said.

"We can advise you (that) we have received complaints and on those complaints, we have opened an active investigation," Office of Financial Regulation spokesman Alex Toledo said. "Industry participants could be mortgage brokers, title agents, appraisers, real estate agents, attorneys."

The government does not necessarily see straw-buyers like Mary and Joan as victims because not knowing what you got yourself into is not really a defense when your names are on the mortgages, Cooper reported. "However, authorities are likely to find them more valuable as witnesses against the major suspects."

The report also featured Gary Gloer, who was videotaped meeting with straw-buyers.

He said Gunter and Sarafian sold him the Livewire company and that he would save the buyers from foreclosure and keep the rent-to-owners in the homes, the report said.

"Then why, when signing straw-buyers up to do these deals, is he asking them to lie to the banks?" Cooper asked.

Local 6 showed video of a letter drafted for Joan to send to Suntrust Bank.

"I have tried unsuccessfully to sell it for a long time," the letter read.

"Not true," Cooper said. "She never tried."

"I tried to rent the house," the letter said.

"No, she didn't," Cooper said.

"I looked into Section 8," the letter said.

"Again, not true," Cooper said.

"Joan saw the red flags and refused to sign a deal with Gloer -- end of story?" Cooper said. "Hardly. We got a hold of this recording:"

"This is Jill calling from Livewire properties," the call said. "We have not received your check for this month of January."

"(It) seems that Gloer's office, using the name Livewire, was asking the rent-to-own tenants in Joan's property to pay him rent -- something Joan did not authorize," Cooper said.

"Why are people calling from this office and saying they're from Livewire," Cooper asked.

"We're not," Gloer said.

"We'll they are," Cooper said. "We tracked the number to Gloer's Ovideo office where we found him and his staff (were) less than pleased to see us."

"Can you explain that letter to the bank that is full of inaccuracies and perhaps lies?" Cooper asked.

"Because of the situation we cannot speak to you," Gloer said. "We're not going to speak to you and I'm going to have you removed if you push the issue."

After the confrontation, Gloer contacted the tenant at Joan's property again to say he was buying 50 or 60 of the Livewire homes from Suntrust Bank.

"But that's not true, either," Cooper said. "Suntrust says it's not involved in any business with Mr. Gloer.

Local 6 showed the homes of Chuck Gunter and Bruce Sarafian nestled in the exclusive community of Alaqua.

"And in case you're wondering, both men are back in business," Cooper said.

Suntrust Bank has confirmed that the FBI has been called in to investigate the case.

"That's in addition to an investigation now underway by the state and financial regulators," Cooper said.

Protect Yourself

Here are some red flags of mortgage fraud:

Your mortgage or real estate professional assures you he/she can help you buy a property way outside your means using an "investor," fake representations of your income, or fake representations about your sources of funds for closing.

You are offered payment for your involvement as an "investor" or straw-buyer on a property you have no desire to own or maintain.

You’re told that all of the house related expenses will be paid for you, including mortgage payments, any down payment, maintenance fees, taxes and insurance. They promise to rent out the home and you will not be responsible for any costs or expenses.

You are asked to sign blank forms (DON’T DO THAT EVEN IF IT SEEMS LIKE AN INNOCENT MATTER OF CONVENIENCE).

Your contract for purchase shows a much higher price than was negotiated with the seller. (THAT MONEY IS GOING SOMEWHERE AND PROBABLY NOT TO YOU). This could indicate a purposeful over-appraisal that would further deceive the lender.

The settlement statement you are asked to sign shows that you are bringing money to the closing table that you know you are not.

If your better judgment tells you not to do it, don’t do it. It is your loan. You are ultimately responsible.

This information was provided by the state Office of Financial Regulation. If you feel that someone has tried to lure you into mortgage fraud contact the office at 407-245-0608.

As cases of mortgage fraud continue to increase, it's highly advisable to hire a real estate attorney for any transaction you are making.