Some details on the new Financial Crimes Unit announced by President Barack Obama during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday night, from an administration official:
New Mortgage Unit: This effort will be run out of a new Unit on Mortgage Origination and Securitization Abuses through the President’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
Enforcement Co-Chairs: The Unit will be Co-Chaired by leading officials at the Department of Justice, SEC, and IRS, including Lanny Breuer, Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, DOJ; Robert Khuzami, Director of Enforcement, SEC; John Walsh, United States Attorney, District of Colorado, Tony West, Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, DOJ.
State Attorney General Co-Chair: The Unit will be Co-Chaired by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who will lead the effort from the state level.
Mortgage Unit Goals: The goal of this joint investigation will be threefold: to hold accountable any institutions that violated the law; to compensate victims and help provide relief for homeowners struggling from the collapse of the housing market, caused in part by this wrongdoing; and to help us finally turn the page on this destructive period in our nation’s history.
This effort announced by the President will be in coordination with and in addition to those ongoing efforts by the Department, the Task Force and state and federal law enforcement investigating and prosecuting financial fraud.
