CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A Putnam County couple was charged Thursday in federal court with duping out-of-state investors out of more than $2.3 million by fraudulently inflating appraisals before reselling properties.

In an information filed Thursday, prosecutors accused Deborah L. Joyce, 37, of Hurricane, of conspiring to commit bank and wire fraud as part of a scheme to flip properties in the Stonegate subdivision at prices far above their actual value.

In a related filing, Joyce's husband, Todd, 39, is charged with giving a fake tax return to United Bank in Fayetteville in order to secure a $740,000 construction loan.

An information, as opposed to indictment by a grand jury, generally indicates that a defendant is cooperating with the government. An information cannot be filed without a defendant's permission.

The charges are part of a nationwide campaign, titled "Operation Stolen Dreams," targeting people who commit mortgage fraud, which was announced by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Thursday.

"Mortgage fraud ruins lives, destroys families and devastates whole communities, so attacking the problem from every possible direction is vital," Holder said. "We will use every tool available to investigate, prosecute and prevent mortgage fraud, and we will not rest until anyone preying on vulnerable American homeowners is brought to justice."

Under the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency effort established by President Obama, more than 1,200 defendants have been charged in 675 mortgage fraud cases in Operation Stolen Dreams since March 1, Holder said at a news conference in Washington. The total losses from the 675 cases are estimated at $2.3 billion, he said.

According to Thursday's filings, Deborah Joyce and a group of co-conspirators, who worked for a mortgage company in Salt Lake City, formed a Utah real estate investment company aimed at tricking unsophisticated investors into buying investment property in the Putnam County subdivision.

In 2006, Joyce arranged to buy a four-bedroom, three-and-a-half bathroom house on Spruce Ridge for $395,000, according to the information. Using a false appraisal, which put the property's value at $714,000, she then sold the house to a would-be investor for $615,000.

The second sale closed first, and Joyce and her co-conspirators allegedly used the proceeds to finance the initial purchase, according to the information.

Although Joyce and her co-conspirators had promised the alleged victim, who owed more on the house than it was worth, that they would resell the house, they never did, resulting in foreclosure. In 2009, the bank sold the property for $305,000.

The total losses from the Putnam County scheme exceed $2.3 million, according to the information.

Deborah Joyce also faces charges that she submitted a false tax return for 2007, wrongly claiming that, after deductions and exemptions, she had no taxable income.

"Mortgage fraud and its effects run deep," said Booth Goodwin, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of West Virginia. "It's not just important for the lenders or the investors on Wall Street, but as the attorney general pointed out today, it effects people and their communities."

Goodwin pledged to root out offenders and hold them accountable.

"This U.S. Attorney's Office, in conjunction with the FBI and IRS, are committed to using whatever resources necessary to stem the tide of mortgage fraud in this district," he said. "Therefore, unfortunately, the charges announced today probably won't be the last uncovered in this district or this country."

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.