The FBI has opened more than a dozen investigations and identified more than 80 individuals and several different schemes developed to defraud Hawai'i homeowners, it said today.

The local investigation is part of a push to arrest and prosecute mortgage fraud purveyors nationally.

Nationally, between March 1 to June 18, "Operation Malicious Mortgage" resulted in 144 mortgage fraud cases in which 406 defendants were charged.

Wednesday, 60 arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases in 15 districts, including Hawai'i.

Charges in Operation Malicious Mortgage cases were brought in every region of the United States and in more than 50 judicial districts by U.S. Attorneys' Offices, according to an FBI news release.

The FBI estimates that approximately $1 billion in losses were inflicted by the mortgage fraud schemes in these cases.

In Hawai'i five people have been indicted on federal charges in a scheme in which they allegedly profited from home mortgage loans that were obtained by falsifying applications.

An indictment handed down May 15 and unsealed the next day alleges that John Gilbert Mendoza, Antonio Alcantara Jr., Ira Altwegg, Albert A. Alimoot Jr. and Evan M. Koizumi illegally obtained more than $400,000 from lenders after securing mortgage loans under false pretenses.

They have been charged with conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements on loan applications.