Fifteen people, including 12 from the same family, are facing federal fraud charges for an alleged mortgage and welfare scam.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara says the suspects took in $20 million to pay off credit card debts and mortgages. They allegedly claimed to be rich to get favorable mortgages, while at the same time claiming to be poor to get welfare and default on the mortgages.

The alleged fraud was uncovered by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, which says it was investigating a bad check.