FBI Saw Threat of Mortgage Crisis

Los Angeles Times (08/25/08); Schmitt, Richard B.
The FBI predicted in 2004 that mortgage fraud could take off, but the agency also thought it could contain the problem from becoming bigger than the savings-and-loan crisis of the 1980s and 90s. Although FBI criminal investigators asked for more assistance to crack down on the illegal activities of bankers and others, according to sources familiar with the FBI budget process, they had fewer resources to work with as the agency began to focus more on national security and other priorities. The FBI had about 100 agents pursuing mortgage fraud in 2007, compared to about 1,000 working on banking fraud during the S&L bust, says Anthony Adamski, who oversaw financial crime investigations for the FBI at the time.