Posted on Thursday, 17th June 2010 by Christopher Allen

Federal officials on Thursday announced the arrest of 485 people in what is being called the largest crackdown on mortgage fraud in the U.S.

The three-month take-down, dubbed Operation Stolen Dreams, targeted mortgage fraudsters nationwide, including Florida. It involved 1,215 defendants allegedly responsible for more than $2.3 billion in losses.

In a speech earlier in the day, Attorney General Eric Holder pointed to South Florida as one of the targets.

“In Miami, just yesterday, we unsealed an indictment and arrested two defendants who allegedly targeted the Haitian-American community, often claiming they would assist them with immigration and housing issues, but then instead using victims’ personal information to produce false documents to obtain mortgage loans,” he said.

In addition to the criminal enforcement, the operation included 191 civil enforcement actions resulting in the recovery of more than $147 million, according to a news release.

“Mortgage fraud ruins lives, destroys families and devastates whole communities, so attacking the problem from every possible direction is vital,” Holder said.

The operation was conducted by 21 federal agencies that make up President Barack Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which was launched in November.

Holder said the U.S. Department of Justice has asked for $178 million in its fiscal year 2011 budget to fight mortgage fraud, an increase of more than $18.4 million.

He noted that the FBI has more than 3,000 pending mortgage fraud cases, almost double the figure from 2008.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida has scheduled a news conference for later today to provide further details.

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Tags: Crackdown, Mortgage Fraud
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