Jun.18, 2010, 5:28 p.m.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Five people in North Carolina were swept up in a nationwide initiative to crack down on mortgage fraud, U.S. Attorney George Holding said Thursday.

Since March, Operation Stolen Dreams has uncovered more than $2.3 billion dollars in losses nationwide and led to almost 500 arrests.

"Mortgage fraudsters need to understand that the price of fraud in the Eastern District of North Carolina is hard time in prison," Holding said.

Among those charged is Kimithi L. Davis who authorities said operated a business in Knightdale that used falsified information to secure loans and real estate financing. Davis pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering on April 9.

“There are thousands of people facing foreclosure and the nightmare of losing their homes because greedy opportunists thought they had found a way to beat the system,” said Owen D. Harris, special agent-in-charge of the FBI in North Carolina.

“Many people may believe since the housing market crashed that mortgage fraud is not an issue anymore. Nothing could be further from the truth."