The FBI announced this week that it has arrested 60 suspects as part of its months-long investigation into mortgage fraud. The crackdown, dubbed "Operation Malicious Mortgage" resulted in 144 mortgage fraud cases in which 406 defendants were charged.
This week's arrests were made in mortgage fraud-related cases in 15 districts -- eight of those were in the Northern District of Texas where defendant Eric Rulack Farrington, Jr., and seven of his associates, were arrested on charges outlined in a 51-count indictment, unsealed the previous day, that charged conspiracy, bank fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in a monetary transaction with criminally derived property. Charges in Operation Malicious Mortgage cases were brought in every region of the U.S. and in more than 50 judicial districts by U.S. Attorneys' Offices based on 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.
U.S. Attorney Roper said, "Pernicious mortgage fraud has a profound negative effect on our community. Our success in bringing to justice those involved in this fraud is a result of the teamwork between federal and state law enforcement and regulatory agencies. While these investigations are lengthy and complicated, we will continue to prosecute anyone who manipulates the mortgage loan process for their own financial gain, we so that we can put a stop to such criminal conduct."
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