FBI investigates IndyMac failure

Federal authorities are looking into whether the mortgage lender committed crimes in making home loans to risky borrowers

This is the second biggest bank failure in US history, so it seems only obvious that the Feds will be involved and try to find out if the mistakes made were honest ones or something more sinister.

Indymac was taken over by regulators last week, and now we learn it's been investigated for possible fraud. Sources with knowledge of the investigation tell/s/ CNN the FBI is looking into weather any crimes were committed when Indymac made home loans to risky borrowers. The FBI would not comment, but one source says the investigation is focused on the company and not individuals of this time.

"I would suspect that looking at data appraisals, data underwriting/s/ which would mean false statements on low applications." And now if the bank is being taken over by regulators, experts say it will be easier for the Feds to get their hands on what they need to conduct their probe.

"There's been so many issues associated with the mortgage failures and the subsequent losses. The question is weather the FBI has enough resources work in this cases."

The Bureau says it's made investigating mortgage fraud a priority and signed nearly 200 agents. In all, it's investigating 21 companies, officials won't offer any details, but CNN has previously confirmed that the nation's largest mortgage lender - Countrywide financial is part of that probe.

"Our mortgage fraud case load has doubled in the past 3 years to more than 1400 pending investigations. We've engaged each of our 56 field offices to focus on this criminal priority. "

And these investigations are very complicated, they'll take a lot of time, so don't expect any announcements anytime soon.

For CNNmoney.com, I’m Kelli Arena.

参考中文翻译：

联邦调查局正在调查该抵押贷款巨头涉嫌将家庭贷款借给高风险借贷者。

这是美国历史上倒闭的第二大银行。非常明显，联邦调查局将会介入，调查其真实性，是否存在欺诈行为。

IndyMac上周由监管机构接管，现在由于涉嫌欺诈正在接受调查。该调查的相关知情者告知CNN，FBI正在调查在IndyMac有无将家庭贷款贷给高风险者而犯罪。FBI没有发表任何评论，但是有消息说，此次调查集中于该公司，而没有针对某一个个体。

“我怀疑那些数据评估，可能在申请程序的表述方面存在一些错误。”现在，如果银行被监管机构接管，专家说，联邦调查局在调查方面更容易着手。

“跟抵押贷款失败和随后的破产相关的问题非常多，问题是FBI有没有足够的资源来调查这个案件。”

联邦调查局说，他们目前把调查贷款欺诈案放在首位，已经签署了接近20个文件。他们总共调查21个公司，相关官员不会透漏细节，但是CNN之前以前得到证实，国家最大的贷款巨头——Countrywide金融公司是调查对象之一。

“在过去的三年里，贷款欺诈案的压力增加了一倍，共产开了1400多次调查。我们所有的56个下属办公室都把贷款欺诈案放在首位。”

这些调查非常复杂，而且非常耗时，所以不要期待很快宣布调查结果。