Two Santa Barbara County residents are accused of fraudulently taking more than 27 million dollars from people in a real estate scam.
Federal prosecutors say Michael Davenport and Cynthia Rawlinson of Santa Barbara were indicted by a grand jury in Illinois on conspiracy charges, as well as on counts of mail and wire fraud.
Prosecutors say the two took part in a nationwide telemarketing operation which would advertise homes online at below market prices, but when people called they would be forced to buy home lists to access the properties. They say the listings were fraudulent, or misrepresented the availability of the homes.
There were more than 100,000 victims from every state in the country.
