In the 1980s, many
Savings and Loans failed because of poor management, risky loans and investments, and in some cases, fraud. Taxpayers were
left with a $132 billion tab to cover federal guarantees to S&L customers.
The FBI has dispatched undercover teams across the country in an urgent investigation
into dealings by suspect mortgage brokers, appraisers, short-term investors, and loan officers, Swecker, flanked by FBI executives
and Justice Department prosecutors, revealed.
In one operation, six individuals were arrested Thursday in Charlotte, charged with bank fraud for their
roles in a multimillion-dollar mortgage fraud, officials said. The two-year investigation found fraudulent loans that exposed
financial institutions and mortgage companies to $130 million in potential losses, they said.
Also Thursday, federal agents in Jacksonville arrested two people and executed
seven search warrants in connection with an alleged scheme designed to defraud banks of $22 million, officials said.
The number of open FBI mortgage fraud investigations has increased
more than five-fold in the past three years, from 102 probes in 2001 to 533 as of June 30 this year, the FBI said. The potential
losses are staggering, and many financial institutions are cooperating with investigators.
Officials noted mortgage industry sources have reported more than 12,000 cases
of suspicious activity in the past nine months, three times the number reported in all of 2001.
While the FBI described mortgage-related fraud as a nationwide problem, it said
the levels of illegal activity are worse in some locations than in others.
States identified as the top 10 "hot spots" for mortgage fraud are Georgia, South
Carolina, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri, California, Nevada, Utah and Colorado.
