June 23, 2009 —A man accused of posing as his dead mother to collect her social security is one of dozens of cases being investigated by a new fraud unit, run by the Brooklyn District Attorney's office. Charles Hynes says his new mortgage and real estate fraud unit has opened more than 80 investigations since March, leading to the indictment of eight people.

HYNES: as the unit grows and looks at more cases, there's every reason to expect more indictments of people with residence of Brooklyn. This will surely serve as a deterrent to those who would steal the investments that homeowners have made in their residences.

REPORTER: Hynes says the new unit was created with $875,000 of federal funding, and is investigating cases of mortgage fraud, refinancing fraud, predatory lending, deed theft and foreclosure rescue scams.

The unit has received hundreds of calls since establishing a hot-line earlier this year. Brooklyn has suffered one of the highest rates of foreclosure in the state.