Thirteen people, including two Macon attorneys, were indicted Tuesday of conspiring to steal more than $1.23 million from mortgage companies.

The grand jury's indictments show those charged included three private business owners, four loan originators, two businessmen, a Realtor and a paralegal.

The Bibb County grand jury indicted each of the 13 on two counts of violating the state's Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, alleging they conspired to take money from mortgage companies to purchase 22 pieces of property but keep a portion of the funds in each case.

Indicted were: William Lewis Vaughn, 36, Macon attorney; James Avant, 41, Macon attorney; Tanya Louise Miller, 30, paralegal in Vaughn's office; Clover Mae Ramos, 30, loan originator for a Perry mortgage company; Willie Frank Ivey, 42, loan originator for a Macon mortgage company; Larry Thomas Sr., 43, Macon businessman; Paul Harrison, 43, owner of Charter Brokers Mortgage Co. in Macon; Shirley Louise Thomas, 38, loan originator with a Macon mortgage company; Tracy Ford Bryant, 35, loan originator with a Macon mortgage company; Solomon Williams, 55, Realtor with a Macon real estate company; Barry Weatherly, 60, owner of Ideal Mortgage Co. in Macon; Dawson Andre Wise, age unknown, Milledgeville businessman; and Marcus Malcolm, 40, owner of Agape Properties in Lithonia.

Assistant district attorney Sharrell Lewis of the Macon Judicial Circuit said all of those indicted will be allowed to turn themselves in at the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center within the next few weeks.

None of the 13 could not be reached for comment Tuesday evening. Vaughn, who has been disbarred, and Avant once shared an office building but were not in practice together.

According to the Georgia Bar Association's Web site, Avant is still a practicing attorney.

Tuesday's indictments allege that from June 2000 to May 2004, various members of the group conspired to defraud mortgage companies by preparing fraudulent sales contracts on 22 Bibb County properties.

Although the properties were real, the scheme involved overinflating the property values, and lenders would finance more than the properties were worth. A property's seller would be given money equaling the value of the property, and prosecutors allege the co-conspirators would pocket the rest.

The mortgage companies and the buyers were left holding the bag.

The latest indictments mark the second major mortgage fraud case in Bibb County since April 2003.

Last April, 17 people were indicted on a similar mortgage scheme, and all of those cases have been resolved through pleas, prosecution or settlements.

Although most of the players in the earlier case were different than those indicted Tuesday, prosecutors said they both involved defrauding mortgage companies. Tuesday's indictment ended part of a two-year investigation by the district attorney's office into allegations of theft.

Paul Harrison, owner of Charter Brokers in Macon, was indicted in both cases. In March, Harrison was sentenced to 20 years in prison for masterminding a plan to defraud mortgage companies out of $1.1 in the original Bibb County case.

"As you peel the onion, you continue to get layers," Lewis said.

She said the investigation surrounding Tuesday's indictments is still ongoing and that more people could be charged.

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