President Obama’s Attorney General revealed a working group of FBI agents and legal officials from around the country to investigate financial companies involved in the 2008 housing crisis, promising to prosecute criminal activity and pursue “civil penalties” for unethical, but legal, activity.
“On Tuesday night, the President referenced this initiative, asking us to, ‘hold accountable those who broke the law, speed assistance to homeowners, and help turn the page on an era of recklessness that hurt so many Americans,'” Attorney General Eric Holder said this morning. “That is precisely what we intend to do.”
In addition to “illegal” activity, Holder indicated that he will try to punish “unethical” financial industry practicies. “We also have learned that behavior that is unethical or reckless may not necessarily be criminal,” the attorney general said. “When we find evidence of criminal wrongdoing, we bring criminal prosecutions. When we don’t, we endeavor to use other tools available to us – such as civil sanctions – to seek justice.”
Obama’s Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Shaun Donovan, added, during the same press conference, that “We still have unfinished business with those responsible for this crisis.”
Holder announced that the Justice Department (DOJ) had already “issued civil subpoenas focusing on issues related to the market for residential mortgage-backed securities to 11 different financial institutions – and you can expect more to follow.”
Donovan also talked about some of the financial practices under scrutiny. “As President Obama said, mortages were sold to people who couldn’t afford or understand them, banks made huge bets and bonuses with other peoples’ money, and we all paid a very steep price.”
“We still have unfinished business with those responsible for this housing crisis,” Donovan declared.
