For nearly three years, Leandro Javier Obenauer has been sitting in the Osceola County Jail waiting for his day in court. Obenauer, now 38, was charged with racketeering, among other offenses, in 2004 after he was accused of swindling thousands of dollars from mortgage lenders and Central Florida home buyers dating back to 1999.

Obenauer was charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, organized fraud, grand theft and unlicensed mortgage brokering. Two years before Obenauer’s 2004 arrest, then-Attorney General Charlie Crist’s office began an investigation, which resulted in the arrests of Obenauer, , who was described as the “ringleader,” and his father-in-law, Robert E. Merchant.

Prosecutors charged that Obenauer and Merchant offered houses for little or no money down to people who had bad credit or were first-time home buyers. Lawyers from the state Attorney General’s Office in Tallahassee would not comment on the case, a spokeswoman for the agency said. Scott Hutchinson, 51, of Winter Springs was arrested and charged with organized fraud of more than $50,000, according to court documents. He was a real-estate appraiser who prosecutors said inflated the values of houses in Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties. His trial is also scheduled for Monday.

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