Group Offers Fraud Database

The Coalition Against Broker Fraud has created a "comprehensive database" on brokers and other finance business insiders known or suspected to have been involved in fraudulent activity.Being on the list is not tantamount to an immediate indictment, the database's co-founders, Mitch Freifeld and Ron Litt, said at the National Association of Mortgage Brokers' convention in Philadelphia, where they formally introduced their effort. Some people could be listed in error or out of retribution, they admitted. But a listing should be enough to give pause to anyone considering using someone whose name is registered, they added. Seeing a name on the list is a "red flag that you need to go a little deeper into the resume," said Mr. Freifeld, who is president of Global Net Branch Solutions, Clearwater, Fla. "We've got to act aggressively," he said. "We have to attack it." The co-founders said fraud against loan brokers goes much deeper than the $86 billion in losses estimated by the FBI in 2004. "It's putting entire companies out of business," Mr. Freifeld said. "And not just little mom-and-pop companies, either. Nobody is immune." Mr. Freifeld, who has been arrested on numerous charges, including credit card fraud and bouncing at least one check, said the coalition is his way of atoning for his past transgressions.