WASHINGTON — More than 400 real-estate-industry players have been indicted since March — including dozens over the last two days — in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that stem from the country’s housing crisis.
The FBI put the losses to homeowners and other borrowers who were victims in the schemes at more than $1 billion.
“Mortgage fraud poses a significant threat to our economy, to the stability of our nation’s housing markets and to the peace of mind of millions of American home owners,” Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said at an afternoon news conference.
The Colorado District of the U.S. Attorney’s Office didn’t have any cases included in the national crackdown, said spokesman Jeff Dorschner.
Colorado has consistently ranked among the top 10 states for mortgage fraud, as tracked by the FBI over the past five years.
Dorschner said federal prosecutors locally have several cases in the works separate from the national crackdown, which is being dubbed “Operation Malicious Mortgage.”
Since March 1, 406 people have been arrested in the national sting resulting from 144 cases across the country.
Sixty people were arrested Wednesday, including in Chicago, Miami, Houston and a dozen other regions policed by the FBI.
In some cases, gang, drug and organized-crime investigations have resulted in mortgage-fraud cases because such schemes enable criminals to launder money, said Sharon Ormsby, section chief in charge of financial crimes for the FBI.
Cases mount in Colorado
Colorado, a hotbed for mortgage fraud, has seen several indictments from federal prosecutors in earlier cases, and more are pending:
• Torrence James of Centennial was sentenced to more than 12 years in prison in March after pleading guilty to wire- fraud and money-laundering charges related to mortgage fraud.
• Douglas Malito and Benjamin Ruppel reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in April for defrauding lenders, including federally insured banks. Ruppel operated Colorado Lending Specialists and with Malito submitted falsified applications to multiple lenders on the same properties, prosecutors said.
• Roderick Wesson of Denver was sentenced to 14 months for conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2005. Wesson and 27 others were indicted in a conspiracy that falsified documents to obtain government-backed mortgages.
