NEW YORK — Twenty-five people, including lawyers, bankers, mortgage brokers and appraisers, and a mortgage company have been charged with committing mortgage frauds involving at least $102 million, New York City prosecutors said.

AFG Financial Group Inc. ran the scheme, said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. He said AFG and its accomplices stole millions of dollars from banks that had loaned money to buy real estate.

The banks in some cases later sold the mortgage debts as investments, but because the investments were based on deals that never occurred, the banks, the property sellers, and the investors were left empty-handed.

GOOGLE AIMS ITS OS RIGHT AT MICROSOFT

SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Google Inc. is hoping to gain greater control over how personal computers work by developing a free operating system that will attack Microsoft Corp.'s golden goose — its long-dominant Windows franchise.

The new operating system will be based on Google's nine-month-old Web browser, Chrome. Google intends to rely on help from the community of open-source programmers to develop the Chrome operating system, which is expected to begin running computers in the second half of 2010.

The early versions of the Chrome operating system will be tailored for "netbooks," a breed of low-cost, less-powerful laptop computers that are becoming increasingly popular among budget-conscious consumers primarily interested in surfing the Web.

IN MAY, CONSUMERS REDUCED BORROWING

WASHINGTON — Consumers trimmed borrowing in May for the fourth straight month as the recession took another bite out of investments and drove unemployment higher.

Many economists predict that consumers will stay cautious in the months ahead, boding for a lethargic recovery if the downturn ends later this year as many expect. The Federal Reserve said yesterday that consumer credit fell at an annual rate of 1.5 percent, or by $3.2 billion, from April.

Economists expected a deeper cut of $9.5 billion.

ALCOA REPORTS 3RD QUARTERLY LOSS IN ROW

PITTSBURGH — In an unofficial opening to the earnings season, Alcoa Inc. reported another quarterly loss but beat Wall Street expectations and said some markets for aluminum may be stabilizing.

Alcoa's loss of $454 million was narrower than analysts expected, and company executives attributed that outcome to recent efforts to slash costs and raise cash. They said some aluminum markets showed signs of improvement, but reiterated a forecast that worldwide aluminum consumption will shrink 7 percent this year amid the global recession.

It was the company's third straight quarterly loss and fresh evidence of slumping orders from key customers in the aerospace, automotive, commercial transportation and construction industries. Alcoa and other aluminum makers have struggled since last year with sharply lower orders for the metal used in products ranging from beer cans to jumbo jets.