U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey considers the surge in mortgage fraud a very serious problem, but says it doesn't warrant the creation of a national task force such as the panel that investigated the Enron debacle in 2002.
In a June 5 briefing for reporters, Mukasey said the mortgage fraud problem is more of a localized issue like white-collar street crime and that he supports the approach the Justice Department has taken.
Mukasey's comments disappointed critics such as Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). "Enron didn't cause a worldwide recession. This has more innocent victims," Frank says.
Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.), also critical of Mukasey's statements on mortgage fraud, adds that the Bush administration "vastly underestimates the scope of this problem."
The FBI has launched 19 major investigations into corporate fraud related to the mortgage crisis, in addition to 1,380 small mortgage fraud cases.
Source: New York Times, Eric Lichtblau (06/06/08)
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