Alleged reporters for TIME forget we have the internets
Once again alleged reporters from TIME make a blatantly false accusation about the Bush administration that is easily disproven with a two-minute web search.
Because so many law enforcement resources were thrown at terrorism during the Bush Administration, federal real estate fraud cases often took a back seat. Last year, even as the crisis became apparent, the Bush Justice Department still rejected a congressional recommendation to create a mortgage fraud task force.
Except that:
FBI to Focus On Area Mortgage Loan Fraud
Agency to Host Investigators, Law Enforcement Officials
By Carrie Johnson and Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 6, 2007; Page D01
The FBI today will launch a mortgage fraud task force in its Washington field office, joining a widening net of state and local investigators digging into the market crisis.
And
Cracking down on mortgage scammers
The Justice Department is going after real estate fraud. The 400-plus people charged nationwide racked up $1 billion in losses. Here's what they are finding.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- While Congress and the Bush administration are focusing on bailing out struggling homeowners and financial companies, another group of federal officials are going after the people who helped propel the country into the mortgage crisis.
The FBI's Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which works with federal, state and local law enforcement officials across the United States, has ramped up its work. Its targets: mortgage brokers, lenders, appraisers and professionals who defraud homeowners and bankers.
And
Mortgage oversight changes proposed by Bush Administration
March 31st, 2008, 7:46 am · 13 Comments · posted by Mathew Padilla, Reporter
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul the nation’s regulation of financial markets, including home lending.
He proposes scrapping the Depression-era charter for thrifts and closing the Office of Thrift Supervision.
And
U.S. Prosecutor Targets Cheating Borrowers for Mortgage Fraud
By Karen Gullo and Peter Blumberg
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Californians who defaulted on their home loans may face prosecution for providing false information to qualify for the mortgages, San Francisco U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said.
Russoniello, 67, leads a task force of 20 federal, state and local law-enforcement officials that is looking into as many as 11,000 cases of mortgage fraud in the San Francisco Bay area. Borrowers who overstated income or concealed debt when they took out loans are partly to blame for the housing crisis, he said.
And
FBI probing bailout firms
Investigators start to search for fraud at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG, sources say.
By Kelli Arena, CNN Justice Correspondent
Last Updated: September 24, 2008: 3:36 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is investigating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG - and their executives - as part of a broad look into possible mortgage fraud, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Tuesday.
And
President's Corporate Fraud Task Force Adds Six New Member Agencies
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The President's Corporate Fraud Task Force has been expanded to include six new agencies to help in the focus on mortgage and securitization fraud cases, Deputy Attorney General Mark R. Filip, the Task Force Chairman, announced today.
The Task Force's expanded roster includes the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The new member agencies represent a continuing focus by the Task Force to crack down on mortgage fraud, particularly with regard to ongoing investigations into securitization fraud. The additions mark the largest expansion of the Task Force since it was formed in July 2002.
And
400 Charged in "Malicious Mortgage" Fraud
Two Senior Managers of Failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Indicted in Separate Mortgage-Related Securities Fraud Case
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today a national takedown of mortgage fraud schemes, the culmination of substantial coordinated efforts during the last three and a half months to identify, arrest and prosecute mortgage fraud violators through the United States.
Operation Malicious Mortgage highlights the strong enforcement response undertaken by the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to combat the threat mortgage fraud poses to the U.S. housing industry and worldwide credit markets.
From March 1 to June 18, 2008, Operation Malicious Mortgage resulted in 144 mortgage fraud cases in which 406 defendants were charged. Yesterday, 60 arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases in 15 districts. Charges in Operation Malicious Mortgage cases were brought in every region of the United States and in more than 50 judicial districts by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices based upon the law enforcement and investigative efforts of participating law enforcement agencies. The FBI estimates that approximately $1 billion in losses were inflicted by the mortgage fraud schemes employed in these cases.
And...I'm sure you get the picture. What the alleged reporters at TIME hope you will do is a) take their word for it and b) accept the premise that if Bush wouldn't create a whole new bureaucracy he must not be doing anything at all.
Because so many law enforcement resources were thrown at terrorism during the Bush Administration, federal real estate fraud cases often took a back seat. Last year, even as the crisis became apparent, the Bush Justice Department still rejected a congressional recommendation to create a mortgage fraud task force.
Except that:
FBI to Focus On Area Mortgage Loan Fraud
Agency to Host Investigators, Law Enforcement Officials
By Carrie Johnson and Tomoeh Murakami Tse
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, December 6, 2007; Page D01
The FBI today will launch a mortgage fraud task force in its Washington field office, joining a widening net of state and local investigators digging into the market crisis.
And
Cracking down on mortgage scammers
The Justice Department is going after real estate fraud. The 400-plus people charged nationwide racked up $1 billion in losses. Here's what they are finding.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- While Congress and the Bush administration are focusing on bailing out struggling homeowners and financial companies, another group of federal officials are going after the people who helped propel the country into the mortgage crisis.
The FBI's Mortgage Fraud Task Force, which works with federal, state and local law enforcement officials across the United States, has ramped up its work. Its targets: mortgage brokers, lenders, appraisers and professionals who defraud homeowners and bankers.
And
Mortgage oversight changes proposed by Bush Administration
March 31st, 2008, 7:46 am · 13 Comments · posted by Mathew Padilla, Reporter
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today unveiled a sweeping plan to overhaul the nation’s regulation of financial markets, including home lending.
He proposes scrapping the Depression-era charter for thrifts and closing the Office of Thrift Supervision.
And
U.S. Prosecutor Targets Cheating Borrowers for Mortgage Fraud
By Karen Gullo and Peter Blumberg
Oct. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Thousands of Californians who defaulted on their home loans may face prosecution for providing false information to qualify for the mortgages, San Francisco U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said.
Russoniello, 67, leads a task force of 20 federal, state and local law-enforcement officials that is looking into as many as 11,000 cases of mortgage fraud in the San Francisco Bay area. Borrowers who overstated income or concealed debt when they took out loans are partly to blame for the housing crisis, he said.
And
FBI probing bailout firms
Investigators start to search for fraud at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG, sources say.
By Kelli Arena, CNN Justice Correspondent
Last Updated: September 24, 2008: 3:36 PM ET
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is investigating Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and AIG - and their executives - as part of a broad look into possible mortgage fraud, sources with knowledge of the investigation told CNN Tuesday.
And
President's Corporate Fraud Task Force Adds Six New Member Agencies
WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The President's Corporate Fraud Task Force has been expanded to include six new agencies to help in the focus on mortgage and securitization fraud cases, Deputy Attorney General Mark R. Filip, the Task Force Chairman, announced today.
The Task Force's expanded roster includes the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Federal Reserve, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). The new member agencies represent a continuing focus by the Task Force to crack down on mortgage fraud, particularly with regard to ongoing investigations into securitization fraud. The additions mark the largest expansion of the Task Force since it was formed in July 2002.
And
400 Charged in "Malicious Mortgage" Fraud
Two Senior Managers of Failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Indicted in Separate Mortgage-Related Securities Fraud Case
WASHINGTON - The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today a national takedown of mortgage fraud schemes, the culmination of substantial coordinated efforts during the last three and a half months to identify, arrest and prosecute mortgage fraud violators through the United States.
Operation Malicious Mortgage highlights the strong enforcement response undertaken by the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to combat the threat mortgage fraud poses to the U.S. housing industry and worldwide credit markets.
From March 1 to June 18, 2008, Operation Malicious Mortgage resulted in 144 mortgage fraud cases in which 406 defendants were charged. Yesterday, 60 arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases in 15 districts. Charges in Operation Malicious Mortgage cases were brought in every region of the United States and in more than 50 judicial districts by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices based upon the law enforcement and investigative efforts of participating law enforcement agencies. The FBI estimates that approximately $1 billion in losses were inflicted by the mortgage fraud schemes employed in these cases.
And...I'm sure you get the picture. What the alleged reporters at TIME hope you will do is a) take their word for it and b) accept the premise that if Bush wouldn't create a whole new bureaucracy he must not be doing anything at all.