If convicted, Kathleen, 51, and Richard, 55, each face one-to-15 years in prison for each felony county - totaling as many as 60 years.

The state attorney general's office alleges the couple concocted an elaborate mortgage-fraud scheme in which they hired several people to use their names and credit ratings to buy property.

The court documents also allege the Culbertsons bought their own home using their daughter's and son-in-law's names - and inflated their income on the loan application by $12,000 per month.

Also, the attorney general's office alleges the couple forged their daughter's signature on a home loan and kept nearly $60,000 that was intended for remodeling and landscaping, which never was done. The Culbertsons could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.

Richard Culbertson, also an attorney and former real estate agent, lost a bid to be Eagle Mountain's 10th mayor in 11 years last November when former Councilwoman Heath- er Jackson trounced him in the 2007 general election.

Before that vote, Richard Culbertson's real-estate license was revoked, and he was fined $40,000 for equity skimming. At the time, Culbertson said he thought the transactions were legal and ethical, and that the origin of the investigation was politically motivated - the consequences, he said, of speaking out against developers and land specu- lators.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said that mortgage fraud is spreading "like wildfire." Said Shurtleff: "Real people are losing real money."

sgehrke@sltrib.com