Hundreds of arrests have been made in the US as part of an FBI crackdown on sub-prime mortgage fraud.
The US Department of Justice has also revealed it has made over 300 arrests in an ongoing investigation into mortgage fraud.
The fallout from the subprime crisis is being felt throughout the US economy, with property prices falling and record foreclosure rates.
The sub-prime mortgage crisis was the catalyst that led to the credit crunch that still grips markets in the US and around the world.
Today's arrests mark the first steps in uncovering not only the greed that drove it but the evidence now emerging that fraud also played a role.
In a separate case, Ralph Cioffi and Matthew Tannin, two senior executives who ran an investment fund at Bear Stearns have been charged with fraud. It is alleged they misled investors by promoting their fund while they knew it was crashing.
Their bank practically collapsed in the fallout, sold for a pittance to Morgan Stanley and destroying an estimated $1.4bn of investors' funds.
