Seven South Florida residents have been arrested and charged in federal court with illegally obtaining properties in Broward and Miami-Dade counties for millions of dollars in profit since 2000.

An eighth person charged, Yizhac Sabag of Sunrise, is in California and expected to turn himself in to authorities. According to an indictment handed down on Thursday, the "sophisticated" scheme netted at least $3 million in property and funds from the victims. The seven arrests followed on Friday.

The alleged fraud was based in Broward County. Two licensed mortgage brokers fraudulently deeded at least 10 residentialproperties to themselves, directly and through aliases, and their corporations, the indictment says.

The defendants -- Samantha Slone Johnson, 39, of Parkland; Scott Warren Johnson, 43, of Parkland; Mary Jo Bellavia-Sabag, 37, of Coconut Creek; Sheila Darlene Henry, 46, of Miramar; Christe Eker, 32, of Fort Lauderdale; Lawrence Joel Bochner, 67, of Pompano Beach; Danielle Messano, 24, of Coral Springs; and Sabag, 34, -- are facing a host of charges that range from mail fraud and wire fraud to money laundering and filing a false tax return.

Often, the defendants forged the notary stamp and affidavits on various documents to complete the real estate transaction, according to the indictment. Then, forged quitclaim deeds were recorded with the Broward County Records Division through the U.S. Postal Service, the indictment says.

The group received money by selling the properties to third parties or obtaining mortgage loans in cities such as Pompano Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Cooper City, which ended up in default, according to the indictment.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is also charging some of the defendants with never reporting a large portion of their illegally obtained income to the Internal Revenue Service.

Authorities said the scheme targeted properties that might otherwise go unnoticed, such as abandoned homes for which taxes were not being paid.

The indictment includes charges of filing a false tax return for four of the defendants, including Samantha Johnson and Scott Warren Johnson, who are accused of filing $4,601 as their income for 2000 when the true amount was $20,220. Samantha Johnson is also charged with failing to file a tax return in 2001, when the government said she had an income of $178,507, and 2002, when she allegedly earned $139,258.

The indictment also says that Samantha Johnson, Bellavia-Sabag, Henry and Eker "targeted vulnerable victims who were unusually vulnerable due to age, physical and mental condition and who were otherwise particularly susceptible to criminal conduct."

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