ABSTRACT
The US Attorney's Office and the FBI were conducting a parallel criminal investigation. The owners were Croatian immigrants who maintained relationships with influential people in the old country. The owners of the financial institution would help the newly arrived immigrants to find employment in the oyster fishing industry and housing. In return, the grateful, newly arrived immigrants would set up savings accounts at the financial institution. Most of the cash had been loaned out. No surprise there for a financial institution. However, a review of the loan files revealed that depositors’ money had been “loaned” to a small number of entities controlled by the financial institution's owners. Worldwide, crime takes many different forms and is investigated and prosecuted by a wide variety of law enforcement agencies. The mortgage origination fraud was carried out by executives in the company’s mortgage lending subsidiary.
