Hundreds Arrested in Mortgage Cases

[Sojourner]

I wasn't sure which subject to put this thread under because it could go either here or under the Money forum. Anyway, as if there weren't already enough problems with the mortgage industry, this was reported today:

Mortgage fraud cases have netted at least 300 arrests as part of an investigation by the FBI and Justice Department, CNN reported.

The investigation has been ongoing since March 1, a government official told CNN Thursday.

Losses in the cases total about $1 billion, said the official, who declined to be named because the investigation results have not yet been made public.

FBI Arrests Hundreds In Mortgage Fraud Case - Money News Story - KNSD | San Diego

The good thing is that these people were caught. The bad thing is that the mortgage industry is out $1 billion thanks to these crooks!

[Rick]

The indictment alleges phony buyers were recruited to apply for loans to buy pricey condominiums in Houston and surrounding suburbs. The loan applications allegedly used fraudulent information to obtain millions of dollars that the defendants then pocketed, the indictment said.

Sounds a lot like what our Governor was doing back in the late '80s. He was convicted of seven felony counts while in office, only to be pardoned by Clinton Forget the blue dress, this was worse

[shamaal]

The poor old mortgage companies were taken advantage of. Shame there wasn't more investigation in the last six years.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced Thursday that 406 people had been indicted since March on charges of mortgage fraud involving the sale of individual properties, including about 60 who were arrested on Wednesday.

The sweep, called Operation Malicious Mortgage, focused primarily on three types of crime: lending fraud, foreclosure rescue frauds and mortgage-related bankruptcy schemes, the department said. The indictments stemmed from 144 cases that resulted in more than $1 billion in estimated losses.

Deputy Attorney General Mark R. Filip said in a statement that the operation was intended to send the message that “the Department of Justice is determined to detect and to punish mortgage fraud and to help restore stability and confidence in our housing and credit markets.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/20/bu...l?ref=business

[Sojourner]

I actually posted this same thing under Law & Disorder. I wasn't sure where it would fit in but, since it had to do with criminal activity, I decided it fit better there.

[Rick]

And I posted it in the repo thread...

[shamaal]

Just checking to see if anybody's reading