White-Collar Crime
New Focus on Fraud Prosecutions
Posted Mar 11, 2009, 06:23 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Under the Obama administration, there is going to be a new focus on prosecuting more financial fraud cases. In fact, it has already begun.
The president's proposed budget "hints" at a planned spending increase on federal prosecution, and those who have met with Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. say he is considering a range of strategies, including a possible federal task force, reports the New York Times.
Meanwhile, there is a growing surge of new cases and settlements on the state level.
“It’s clear that [Holder] and other top-level members of the Obama administration want to seize the opportunity to send a message of zero tolerance for mortgage fraud,” Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, tells the Times. “The only question is when and how they will do it.”