(MN) Panel drops mortgage fraud cases

[flashl]

The Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force has decided to stop taking mortgage fraud cases in a move that may or may not dent the state's efforts to combat a widespread problem, depending on whom you talk to.

Either way, the decision speaks to the tough time law enforcement is having tackling a new breed of financial crime, one that has played a significant role in the nation's foreclosure crisis and doesn't fit neatly into traditional police beats. In fact, the U.S. Attorney's office in Minneapolis is holding a special meeting today to discuss just how federal and state laws can be used together to better tackle mortgage fraud.

"If the task force can't do it, then we need to reinvigorate this other task force to start coordinating cases," said John McCullough, executive director of the Retailers Protection Association, which includes lenders. McCullough also is a member of the council that oversees the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force.

The "other task force" McCullough referred to is a group of federal investigators in the Twin Cities including the FBI that have been working on mortgage fraud with prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney's Office.

As for the Minnesota Financial Crimes Task Force, its 17-member oversight council in January instructed the group to shut the door on mortgage fraud, saying the cases were so time-consuming they threatened to overwhelm the group. Chris Omodt, a Hennepin County Sheriff's lieutenant who heads the task force, said he thinks crimes will go unchecked, but acknowledges it doesn't have the resources.

:wow:
Will the same reasoning be use to drop property assessments claims?