Bank
robbery has been frequently portrayed in movies over the years,
but did you know that each year the money stolen from financial
institutions by fraud is over 100 times the amount stolen in
robberies? Thirty years ago, bank frauds were mostly simple
cons, like check kiting and unsophisticated loan frauds, often
done by a single con man.
The failure of
the Penn Square Bank of Oklahoma City in 1982 marked the beginning
of a new era in financial institution fraud. People like
Charles Keating, Gabe Ferone, and David Paul used the institutions
they controlled as their own personal treasure troves until they
collapsed under the weight of massive bank fraud. Over 1,000
financial institutions have failed in this country, causing $200
billion in losses, more than was spent on the Vietnam War.
In the United
States, today's biggest fraud problem is large-scale check fraud
and counterfeiting operations, much of it controlled by organized
groups who have come here from other countries. Nigerian
and Russian criminals, particularly in the East, are involved
in a myriad of bank fraud schemes. These include check washing,
letter fraud investments, credit card and check theft, loan frauds
and customer impersonation schemes.
The FBI's Operation
CheckMaster focused on Vietnamese groups from California and
who had mastered the art of counterfeiting. They produced
large volumes of bogus credit cards, payroll checks, traveler's
checks, bank drafts and software. With today's computer
technology, these organizations can easily create authentic-looking
documents. While check fraud and counterfeiting are the
most common bank frauds, loan frauds account for the largest
dollar volume, almost 40 percent of all financial institution
losses.
Much of this
fraud involves unscrupulous professionals acting in collusion:
mortgage brokers, accountants, appraisers, realtors and bank
loan officers, all of whom profit from bogus loan approvals through
commissions, fees and fictitious sales. These crimes threaten
the stability of our nation's banking system and challenge law
enforcement to unravel their complex schemes.