Mortgage fraud

The five-year legal odyssey of former Jefferies Group managing director Jesse Litvak, the first person charged in a federal crackdown on questionable bond-trading tactics, came to an end as prosecutors said they don't intend to try him a third time.

Five potential witnesses against Paul Manafort, including accountants and bankers, were identified Monday as a U.S. judge gave the former Trump campaign chairman's lawyers more time to review tens of thousands of documents handed over to them in recent weeks.

A new court filing suggests that Stephen Calk was named to a 13-member economic advisory team in 2016 in exchange for approving a $9.5 million loan to former campaign manager Paul Manafort.

The Royal Bank of Scotland is paying $20 million to settle an investigation by the Illinois attorney general related to the bank's marketing and sale of residential mortgage-backed securities.

PricewaterhouseCoopers was ordered to pay the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. more than $625 million for negligence in the audit of Colonial BancGroup Inc., an Alabama bank holding company that failed during the financial crisis.

The son of a Lake Worth, Fla., man arrested this month in an alleged rent-fraud scam is wanted for acting as an accomplice in the crime, the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office said.

While purchase mortgages account for a growing share of overall volume, industrywide investments in more automated and efficient underwriting processes have helped lower instances of fraud.

Startup Block66 is using blockchain to create a mortgage audit trail for fraud prevention purposes and also plans to enable trading of securities lenders can use to increase their liquidity.

One-time Modesto City Council candidate Robert Farrace, an attorney and real estate broker, was sentenced to two years in federal prison for defrauding real estate lenders.

The man authorities called the mastermind behind a complex mortgage fraud scheme targeting distressed properties was arrested June 7 in South Carolina and charged with being a fugitive in violation of probation.