Joy Jackson, the president of the former Lanham-based Metropolitan Money Store, and Jennifer McCall, the company's CEO, are among eight people named in an indictment released Thursday in U.S. District Court on charges that include conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering.

Metropolitan was a foreclosure rescue operation that claimed to help strapped homeowners at risk of losing their homes.

It allegedly convinced homeowners to sign over their homes to people with strong credit to keep the homes from foreclosure. Homeowners were told that they could keep their homes and repair their credit, get better mortgages and eventually buy back the homes.

But prosecutors allege once it took control of the homes, Metropolitan would borrow heavily against the properties, sucking out any equity the original homeowners had built up. Many couldn't buy back the homes.

Prosecutors say homeowners lost more than $10 million in equity.