Mortgage fraud caseload rose last year as federal insurers reported more suspicious activity, according to the ""Federal Bureau of Investigation"":http://www.fbi.gov/ (FBI).
[IMAGE]_Source_: ""FBI Financial Crimes Report"":http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/financial-crimes-report-2010-2011/financial-crimes-report-2010-2011#Mortgage
[COLUMN_BREAK]The agency reported recently that so-called suspicious activity reports (SARs) ascended from 70,533 in 2010 to 93,508 last year, a shift that reportedly helped FBI investigators land 1,223 indictments and 1,082 convictions for mortgage fraud last year.
The FBI touted big payouts for victims in a report that found $1.38 billion in restitutions, $116.3 million in fines, and seizures worth roughly $15.7 million from last year.
Pending cases for mortgage fraud meanwhile fell from a new high of 3,129 two years ago to 2,691 in 2011, while damages in fraud-related SARs stepped down from $3,238 in 2010 to $3,029 last year.
Personnel rose with demand, as the FBI said that it more than doubled agents on payroll to 325 last year, up from 120 in 2007.
The agency said that pending mortgage fraud cases fell as originations overall reached their lowest level since the early 2000s.
It reported that distressed homeowner fraud had taken over from mortgage origination fraud as the primary source of problems for the agency.