(Source: syracuse.com) SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- A mortgage bank company owned by the chairman of the Onondaga County Legislature and a former Syracuse city auditor was a victim in a mortgage fraud scheme that stole up to $5 million, according to a federal grand jury indictment.

Four New York City people were indicted this week in Buffalo on charges of using falsified documents to obtain inflated mortgages on eight homes in the Bronx from June 2008 to February 2009, according to the indictment.

Among the victims was The Funding Source, owned by Onondaga County Legislature Chairman Ryan McMahon and Phil LaTessa, Syracuse's former auditor.

When their business office was searched two years ago, it seemed the company could be a target of the investigation. The indictment paints a different picture.

The mortgage totals on the eight homes was $4.9 million, or $625,000 on each home. Prosecutors put the theft at $4.1 million.

The Funding Source funded the mortgages for seven of the eight homes...