Federal crackdown on fraudsters highlighted

At a news conference, in the presence of Attorney General Erich H. Holder, the feds listed hundreds of cases in which persons accused of financial misdeeds have been arrested, charged, or sentenced to long terms in prison.

The announcement reminds one of the ‘Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force’ of President Obama, a group of agencies working together to apprehend people and companies accused of financial bungling during the economic crisis of 2007-09.
Operation Broken Trust
Authorities told during the news conference that ‘Operation Broken Trust’ involves a total of 343 defendants charged with criminal offences and 189 charged with civil offences, although in some cases, a single person is counted in both the categories.

These cases involved $8.3 billion that the 12,000 gullible investors lost to these accused. These schemes mainly targeted the vulnerable, including the elderly or churchgoers or the family members of a recently deceased person.

The statistics include almost all types of action taken against investment fraud in the last three-and-a-half-months.

Attorney General Holder said that the Justice Department has been zealously pursuing cases involving fraud for the past few months. Investigators across the country have been told to speed up cases involving financial scams.

“With this the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force is sending a strong message to any one operating or attempting to operate an investment scam: Cheating investors out of their earnings and savings is no longer a safe business plan. We will use every tool at our disposal to find you, to stop you and to bring you to justice,” Holder said.

Victims want quick justice
Robert Khuzami, Securities and Exchange Commission’s executive director said, “Fraud by well known companies or high profile executives gets the biggest headlines, but other scams are equally devastating to hard working families and retirees.

“Victims want justice and don’t much care who the fraudster is or how unique is the fraud. Today’s actions underscore that law enforcement agrees and will pursue fraud in whatever form.”

Federal authorities are now using more sophisticated devices and techniques for fraud investigations, including electronic surveillance and undercover operations. These come in the wake of an increase in Ponzi schemes and other investment scams.