WASHINGTON — The Justice Department is renewing its efforts to stamp out mortgage fraud.
Operation Malicious Mortgage has yielded 406 arrests since March, though the F.B.I. just made the program public last week. Those arrested included industry borrowers, loan originators and real estate agents.
The alleged crimes included overstating the income of borrowers (the most frequent kind of fraud), using false employment records and fraudulently obtaining fees for foreclosure prevention. It is the department's third sweep aimed at mortgage fraud since 2004.
Recommended For You
"Operation Malicious Mortgage is a concerted, joint law enforcement and prosecutorial effort aimed at disrupting individuals and groups engaged in mortgage fraud," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III.
The FBI estimates that approximately $1 billion in losses were inflicted by the mortgage fraud schemes employed in these cases.
Rep. Spencer Bachus, (R-Ala.) the ranking minority member on the House Financial Services Committee, praised the program as the type of effort that is "needed to help protect Americans as they navigate the home financing process."
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
