FBI Director Robert Mueller mentioned this San Diego case in his remarks on the bureau’s efforts to combat white-collar crime, which he delivered earlier this week to the Economic Club of New York.
Geopolitical news website isria.com posted a transcript of Mueller’s speech from June 2, which highlighted the FBI’s efforts to address the criminal side of the financial crisis.
Here’s more:
Beginning with mortgage fraud, we are investigating more than 2,400 mortgage fraud matters, more than double the number from just two years ago. And we have doubled the number of agents working on these cases.
We are investigating industry insiders — both those who knowingly participated in fraudulent transactions, and those who knew the risks and intentionally misrepresented those risks to homeowners and investors. …
In San Diego, we charged 24 individuals under the racketeering statute in connection with a scheme that included more than 220 properties, valued at more than [100] million dollars. The alleged leader of the group is a documented member of a well-established and violent gang — the Lincoln Park Street Gang.
Here’s our story on the FBI’s April 7 announcement of those charges. And here’s a conversation I had about a year and a half ago with Keith Slotter, the special agent in charge of San Diego’s FBI office.
Update: This post has been updated to correct a misprint contained in the isria.com article.