MIAMI (AP) - The mayor of North Miami has surrendered to federal agents after she was charged with others in an $8 million mortgage fraud scheme.
Mayor Lucie Tondreau was in FBI custody Tuesday and had her first court appearance. She was at a Las Vegas convention on city business when an indictment was unsealed Monday.
Gov. Rick Scott later Tuesday suspended Tondreau from office.
Prosecutors say Tondreau and three others conspired before she became mayor to defraud lenders using straw buyers, who obtained inflated loans for 20 properties. The scheme allegedly involved use of Tondreau’s radio program to recruit buyers.
Tondreau’s attorney says she is innocent. The defendants could get 30 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy and wire fraud.
Tondreau in June became North Miami’s first female Haitian-American mayor.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.