Obama Orders Task Force to Fight Financial Crime [View All]

[SecularMotion]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will issue an executive order Tuesday creating an administration-wide task force to crack down on financial fraud following a rise in mortgage scams and high-profile Wall Street trading scandals, an administration official said.

The order will direct the task force to investigate and prosecute financial crimes connected to the past year's financial crisis and to try to deter future fraud, said the official, who declined to be identified.

The stakes are high for the administration, particularly with a weak economy, anger about huge Wall Street bonuses and outrage that securities regulators missed one of the biggest frauds in U.S. history involving Bernard Madoff, who bilked investors of as much as $65 billion in a decades-long scheme.

The administration has long pledged to become more aggressive in fighting financial crime. The task force is set to be announced at a 12 p.m. EST (1700 GMT) Justice Department news conference that will include Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and Attorney General Eric Holder.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2009/11/17/us/politics/politics-us-usa-fraud.html