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The man allegedly at the center of a sophisticated mortgage rescue scam in the Aurora area pleaded not guilty to federal fraud charges Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

Melvin T. Bell, 37, was arrested in July by postal inspectors and Metropolitan Nashville Police, six months after an arrest warrant was issued.

In a federal indictment, authorities allege that Bell, with two others, promised that Washington National Trust would assist financially strapped homeowners, most of whom were Hispanic, with mortgage loan modifications. Instead, authorities allege that the firm charged fees for services never delivered and had more than 50 homeowners pay promissory notes and transfer ownership of their homes to Washington National.

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