FBI

The owner of Tri-Emerald Financial Group claimed unregistered securities it was offering would increase in value by more than tenfold before an eventual Nasdaq listing.

The scheme targeted distressed homeowners in the Filipino community, most of whom were nonnative English speakers, forcing some of them into bankruptcy and homelessness, according to law enforcement officials.

Twelve people were charged in a scheme regarding the creation of 100 fraudulent mortgages in Georgia, according to the HUD inspector general.

Fidelity National Financial, the nation's largest title insurance underwriter, added a new digital title insurance opening package to its WireSafe homebuyer and seller program.

Mortgage and real estate professionals need to do a better job of educating consumers and themselves about the growing vulnerability to wire fraud schemes during the home buying process.

Four real estate professionals could face up to 30 years in prison and hefty fines after being indicted on charges related to allegedly defrauding Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and multifamily lenders.

Lenders must do more to address the safety of borrowers' personal information as digital mortgage strategies spread and regulatory scrutiny increases.

With a second defendant pleading guilty to conspiracy, it was learned that a Watertown, N.Y., apartment complex is among dozens of rental properties in that state and several others that allegedly received $500 million in fraudulent bank loans.

Wire fraud is considered a consumer and title agent issue, but the millions of dollars it's diverting from home purchase transactions make it an issue mortgage lenders need to address, too.

Three people who fraudulently obtained $9.3 million in mortgage loans involving homes in Modesto, Patterson and Lathrop, Calif., have received multiyear federal prison sentences.

Post-crisis measures made it harder for rogue borrowers and employees to commit fraud. Now, a new threat has emerged from scammers posing as title agents, real estate professionals and more.

Federal law enforcement authorities have arrested 74 people in this country and abroad, accusing them of participating in a wire fraud scam whose victims included real estate attorneys and settlement service providers.

Three real estate investors illegally pushed down prices in Palm Beach County, Fla., foreclosure auctions, federal prosecutors say.

Arlando Jacobs and Clarence Roland stole homes across Texas and two other states with the scribble of a pen, the FBI says.

The Federal Trade Commission filed a civil suit against him in 2003. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation suspended his loan originator registration in 2010.