A Pikesville, Md., insurance agent was indicted by a Prince Georges’s County grand jury on six charges, including insurance fraud, for allegedly cheating three people out of $280,000 as part of a reverse mortgage scheme.

Edward Scott Hanson

Edward Scott Hanson, 39, was indicted under Maryland’s new mortgage fraud statute, establishing a new set of penalties for the specific crime, according to the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office. The investigation into Hanson’s alleged crimes also included the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Bowie (Md.) Police Department.

Hanson is accused of bilking 79-year-old Martha Cunningham, and Bobby and Lucille Mackey, both in their 60s, who are all from Bowie, Md.

In January 2008, Cunningham told Hanson she was interested in a reverse mortgage on her home, and Hanson said he could handle the paperwork, according to the Washington Post. Cunningham received a $212,000 payout and also told Hanson she was interested in purchasing long-term health insurance. Hanson began asking for large sums of money to pay the policy and Cunningham wrote 21 checks to him in March 2008 for more than $20,000, according to the report. She also wrote 10 checks for almost $14,000 three months later.

Cunningham never received the policy, and by the end of the year, Cunningham turned over more than $200,000 from her reverse mortgage funds and money from her bank account to Hanson, the Post said.

The Mackeys claim Hanson took about $1,800 from them, told to write checks to their insurance agent for a policy they never received, the report said.