Reply #2: FBI, federal prosecutors lining up mortgage fraud indictments

[maddezmom]

FBI, federal prosecutors lining up mortgage fraud indictments

The FBI’s top agent in Springfield said he expects months of mortgage fraud investigations spearheaded by the bureau’s local office to result in federal grand jury indictments later this year.
Agent: Schemes used cooked appraisals and multiple participants to defraud lenders
By Matt Wagner
Springfield Business Journal Staff
5/5/2008
The FBI’s top agent in Springfield said he expects months of mortgage fraud investigations spearheaded by the bureau’s local office to result in federal grand jury indictments later this year.

Supervisory Special Agent Dean C. Bryant said the FBI’s extensive probe into the alleged schemes – first reported by Springfield Business Journal in February 2007 – has turned up evidence that individuals from various real-estate sectors conspired to defraud lenders by inflating the value of area homes.

“I will tell you that some of the cases certainly involve tens of millions of dollars,” Bryant said. “So there’s a lot of money involved, and we’re aggressively pursuing the investigations – obviously, because of the heartache and stress it’s put on all these homeowners.”

Bryant said the FBI has worked closely with the Internal Revenue Service and U.S. Attorney’s Office on the investigations, which gained significant momentum early last year. The local emphasis on mortgage fraud reflects a national crackdown by the U.S. Attorney General’s Office, he added.

more:http://www.sbj.net/article.asp?aID=7463517.1360416.1053637.7045883.4280863.407&aID2=81040