FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- More than a dozen people were arrested Friday, accused of scheming as much as $20 million from South Florida's crippling housing market.

A total of 16 people were arrested in the alleged mortgage fraud scheme.

Here's how investigators said it worked: A fake buyer -- called a straw buyer -- would purchase a home from a legitimate seller. That homeowner would sign documents selling the house, for example, for $200,000. Unbeknownst to the seller, the straw buyer -- working in cahoots with other criminals -- would then submit fake documents to the bank claiming the sale was for $300,000, robbing the lending institution of $100,000.

"The lender would fund the inflated amount and the subjects would then divert the excess amounts into a shell company," Miami-Dade police Director Robert Parker said.

Then, investigators said, the fake buyer would fail to make any mortgage payments and the property would eventually foreclose.

"The victim is not just the bank, but the victim is everybody in the neighborhood, everybody in the community," prosecutor William Shepherd said.

Investigators said everyone is a victim because the elaborate schemes artificially inflated the values of homes in many neighborhoods.

The defendants face numerous charges, including racketeering, money laundering and mortgage fraud.