Not guilty pleas in mortgage fraud scheme

Six people indicted in what prosecutors claim is an $18 million mortgage fraud scheme have pleaded not guilty to federal charges.

Bradley Grant Kitchen, David Bolick, Steve Wells Cloward, Ron K. Clarke, Jeffery David Garrett, and Rebecca Ann Hadlock were arraigned before a federal magistrate judge on Thursday. A 12-day trial was scheduled, beginning March 10.

According to a federal grand jury indictment, the six held various positions in the real estate industry and formed a network to obtain a series of loans on properties in Provo's posh River Bottoms area whose market values were fraudulently inflated.

The prosecution is the first to be filed through the Utah Mortgage Fraud Task Force, a law enforcement initiative created to combat housing fraud in the state.