DENVER -- The owners of a Lakewood, Colo., real estate company were indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver this week on multiple charges of fraud in connection with allegedly illegal home loans to unqualified buyers.

William E. Mendez, 40, and Claudia M. Mendez, 33, of the Mendez Team, face charges of wire fraud.

Also named in a superseding indictment was Benedicta Gomez, 48, for allegedly preparing false documents for preparing false tax returns designed to allow the home buyers to obtain loans backed by FHA mortgage insurance, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Denver said Wednesday.

William and Claudia Mendez were arrested without incident Wednesday. Gomez will receive a federal summons.

According to the indictment, between July 2000, and November 2002, the defendants worked at the Mendez Team real estate agency in Lakewood, Colorado. William and Claudia Mendez assisted home buyers, whom they knew to be illegal aliens or otherwise unqualified to obtain loans backed by FHA mortgage insurance, in preparing and completing loan applications containing false information, the indictment alleges.

Once the fraudulent applications and false documents were prepared, the defendants and others submitted them to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the indictment.

William Mendez faces 32 counts of wire fraud, and eight counts of money laundering. Claudia Mendez faces 12 counts of wire fraud. Benedicta Gomez faces six counts of wire fraud.