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A Bethesda man is due in federal district court on Friday to answer charges that he ripped off lenders, his own relatives and others for more than $2.8 million in a mortgage fraud scheme.

Douglas Skibicki, 41, faces up to two decades in prison if convicted, according to a statement from federal prosecutors. He has been indicted on charges of mail fraud, aggravated identity theft and bankruptcy fraud, in connection with the scheme, according to court records.

Skibicki, resident agent for First Investment Choice Corp. of Bethesda, was a mortgage originator and/or broker with a company that operated in Laurel. The indictment alleges that from April 2006 through last August, Skibicki, with the assistance of an appraiser and others, ran a scam through a series of bogus real estate transactions.

First Investment Choice's incorporation status in Maryland was forfeited in 2006 for failure to file a property return for 2005, according to the state Department of Assessments and Taxation Web site.

Skibicki obtained mortgages on six properties in the names of relatives and others, according to the indictment. In each instance the loan application contained false statements as to the family members and others whose names Skibicki used on the application.

For instance, in a mortgage refinancing application to CitiMortgage for a Bethesda home, he listed the income of one relative, who worked as a clock repairer, as $46,210 a month, according to the indictment. CitiMortgage provided a $900,000 loan. Another time, he provided a fraudulent appraisal for an Elkridge home that he had previously demolished. A third property in the scheme was in Derwood.

In some instances, the family members and others allegedly had agreed to allow Skibicki to use their names, with Skibicki promising he would make the payments and/or remove their names from the property after some specific amount of time. In reality, the family members and others often had no idea that Skibicki had used their name and personal information to facilitate the transactions.

The indictment further alleges that five of the properties went into foreclosure after Skibicki failed to make the promised loan payments. Skibicki received loans worth $2,829,971 as a result of the scheme.

Skibicki's attorney, public defender Lucius T. Outlaw III, declined to comment.

Skibicki faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross loss or gain of the offense, if greater than $250,000, on each of six counts of mail fraud; a mandatory two years in prison, consecutive to any other sentence, on each of two counts of aggravated identity theft; and a maximum of five years in prison for bankruptcy fraud.

Skibicki was released on personal recognizance. The state Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation's Division of Financial Regulation issued a cease-and-desist against Skibicki, prohibiting him from engaging in any further credit services business activities and/or foreclosure consultant activities with Maryland residents.