Two Broward County attorneys found themselves on the wrong side of the jailhouse wall this week after the sheriff's office alleged they were part of a scheme with convicted felons to steal up to $742,000 in foreclosure sale proceeds.

The four are accused of working together to claim surplus foreclosure funds held by the clerk of court, money left over after a foreclosed property is sold and the lender is paid what is owed.

The attorneys took  those foreclosures surplus checks by filing fraudulent pleadings with the court, basically lying to judges in Broward County, saying they were representing the rightful recipients of those dollars,  said sheriff's spokesman Carey Codd.

Attorney Rashida Overby remained in custody Tuesday, until she could post nearly $140,000 in bond with money she can prove was not fruit of the 29 counts she faces, including alleged theft and money laundering.

Attorney Ria Sankar-Balram was free on $57,000 bond, charged with seven counts, including money laundering, stemming from the alleged theft of $78,000.

Also charged were Patricia and Illya Tinker, a married couple convicted last year of another real estate scam. Patricia is serving a 35-year sentence and her husband 177 years after a jury convicted them of dozens of charges.

For nearly two years, a group of four people, including two attorneys, pulled off a sophisticated fraud scheme by stealing foreclosure surplus checks from unsuspecting victims. The fraud in  Operation Claim Game  cost victims nearly $750,000. Learn more at https://t.co/1RkXIqg1N2 pic.twitter.com/4F05ig37Dx - Broward Sheriff (@browardsheriff) October 7, 2020

Sankar-Balram assisted the defense, taking notes, during that trial, she told NBC 6, while declining to comment on the current charges.

 We have multiple victims in this case and they did target deceased individuals and to the tune of approximately $750,000 dollars,  Codd said of what the sheriff's office dubbed Operation Claim Game.

Among those deceased, Joanne Weaver, who died in 2018 at age 88.

 I'm only the voice for Joanne because she can't talk for herself any more,  said 

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