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Fabrice Tourre, is accused of fraud over a mortgage-linked investment, in Washington, DC, April 27. The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it has arrested almost 500 people over the last three-plus months in a crackdown on mortgage fraud (Jim Watson/Getty Images)
The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it has arrested almost 500 people over the last three-plus months in a crackdown on mortgage fraud following the largest housing bubble collapse in U.S. history, which led to the biggest global economic recession in more than 50 years.
In a statement made on Thursday, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that 1,215 people have been charged related to hundreds of mortgage-fraud cases in the United States, resulting in losses of more than $2.3 billion nationwide.
“This represents the largest collective enforcement effort ever brought to bear in confronting mortgage fraud,” Holder said in a statement. “In the past few months, task force members have traveled to cities heavily affected by mortgage fraud to hear from industry insiders and community members on how mortgage fraud has impacted their region.”
The investigation was ordered by the Obama administration to improve oversight of the mortgage industry, which touched off a wave of foreclosures across the United States, heavily impacting real estate prices and impeding the recovery of the U.S. economy.
"In Detroit, just yesterday we charged several individuals who are part of a more than $100 million, 70-plus person 'ghost loans' scheme," Holder said.
