January 26, 2010
Filings of Suspected Mortgage Fraud Leveled Off
On January 22, 2010, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
reported that filings of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) during the first six
months of 2009 for check fraud increased for all of the industries required to
file SARs under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), as compared to the first six months
of 2008.
For example, SAR filings by depository institutions increased by 19% for
check fraud and by 36% for instances of suspected counterfeit checks. Similarly,
BSA-covered entities in the securities, futures, and insurance industries
increased their filings of SARs by 19% for check fraud. Money services
businesses (MSBs) increased their SAR filings for fraud involving Traveler’s
Checks by 76%. Reports filed by casinos of check fraud rose by 18% while reports
for unusual use of checks rose by 16%.
Notably, the filings of SARs for mortgage fraud, which saw a dramatic
increase in 2008, began to stabilize in 2009. The filings of SARs by depositary
institutions identifying mortgage fraud increased only 1% during the first six
months of 2009 as compared to 2008. By comparison, during the first six months
of 2008, the filings of SARs increased nearly 40% as compared to 2007.
Other notable SAR filing figures released by FinCEN included:
Wire fraud
- Depository institutions increased their filing of SARs by 25%.
- BSA-covered entities in the securities, futures, and insurance
industries increased their filings of SARs by 35%.
Computer fraud
- Depository institutions increased their filing of SARs for computer
intrusion by 75%.
- BSA-covered entities in the securities, futures, and insurance
industries increased their filings of SARs by 41%.
McGuireWoods’
Government, Regulatory and Criminal Investigations Department has attorneys
with extensive experience with AML compliance and investigation matters, as well
as the defense of white collar criminal investigations. The most valuable
weapons a corporation and its officers and directors have against potential AML
issues are preparedness, responsiveness and the deployment of a robust
compliance program designed to detect and prevent money laundering.
McGuireWoods is prepared to assist with everything from defending
investigations to conducting money laundering risk assessments, audits and
internal investigations, and designing and helping to implement overall and
AML-specific corporate compliance programs and training.
For more information about our capabilities in this or any other area, please
contact the authors.