FBI Orders Shift In Resources To Focus On Mortgage Fraud Probes

Bloomberg News reports:

• The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation, confronting a surge in mortgage fraud, has ordered more than two dozen of its field offices to stop probing some financial crimes so agents can focus on the subprime crisis. Kenneth Kaiser, chief of the bureau's criminal investigative division, issued the directive late last week on a video conference call with the heads of 26 offices in areas where mortgage crime is rampant, said Bill Carter, an FBI spokesman in Washington.

• Carter said the shift was made after an analysis of how agents are spending their time. The FBI traditionally has moved investigators to address urgent needs, he said. About 150 agents were working on more than 1,300 mortgage cases before the change.

For more, see FBI Halts Some Financial Cases to Investigate Mortgage Fraud.