The Arizona Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force announced multiple indictments charging 38 individuals in various mortgage fraud schemes across the state this month.
Loan or escrow officers and real estate appraisers were among those indicted in the schemes, which included "cash back" and loan origination scams.
"These are the most indictments ever in one month for mortgage fraud," says U.S. Attorney Dennis K. Burke. "It reflects both how pervasive the problem is and how committed we are to investigate, prosecute and convict these scam artists."
President Obama's interagency Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force organized the Operation Stolen Dreams sweep that started March 1. To date, 51 defendants in Arizona have been indicted, convicted or sentenced.
Results of the nationwide takedown is the largest collective enforcement effort ever to confront mortgage fraudsters, involving 1,215 criminal defendants across the country.
That number includes 485 arrests of individuals allegedly responsible for more than $2.3 billion in losses and the recovery of more than $147 million.
