As part of a state attorney general’s office investigation into alleged mortgage fraud, a Suffolk County grand jury has returned an indictment charging six individuals with Grand Larceny in the First Degree and other crimes stemming from two separate real estate transactions involving a four-bedroom house located in the Town of East Setauket on Long Island’s North Shore.

The indictment charges Frank DeGrasse, 45, of South Salem, and Andreas Perdikos, 41, a fugitive, with stealing $750,000 from Sun Trust Mortgage Bank and Freemont Investment and Loan by pretending to sell the property on two separate occasions to "straw buyers;" individuals who purported to be bona-fide purchasers but who, as part of a scheme, lent their name and credit history to the defendants in return for financial gain.

In addition, Denise Smith, 45, of Hempstead and Gerard Felix, 42, of Orange, New Jersey, are charged for their roles in recruiting and managing the straw-buyers, for which they were paid from the stolen loan proceeds. Another defendant, Lincoln Esteves, 33, of Newark, New Jersey is an out-of-state mortgage broker who allegedly helped funnel the second transaction through Sun Trust Mortgage Bank.