Special Inspector General for TARP 

Program Summary by Budget Activity 

Dollars in Thousands 

 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 FY 2022 to FY 2023 

Budget Activity Operating 

Plan 

Annualized 

CR Request $ Change % Change 

Investigations $16,550 $16,150 $7,850 ($8,300) -51.4% 

Audit $2,450 $2,850 $1,150 ($1,700) -59.6% 

Subtotal, SIGTARP $19,000 $19,000 $9,000 ($10,000) -52.6% 

Resources from No Year Account $3,000 $3,000 $7,500 $4,500 150.00% 

Total Program Operating Level $3,000 $3,000 $7,500 $4,500 100.00% 

Direct FTE NA 

Investigations 65 59 40 (19) -32.2% 

Audit 9 9 5 (4) -44.4% 

Total Full-time Equivalents (FTE) 74 68 45 (23) -33.8% 

FY 2021 Other Resources and Full-time Equivalents (FTE) reflect actuals. 

Summary 

The Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Budget requests $9 million, a reduction of 47 percent from the 

FY 2022 President’s budget and a 53 percent reduction from SIGTARP’s FY 2021 enacted level. 

The proposed budget is intended to fund Congressionally mandated independent oversight of 

EESA programs through SIGTARP investigations (85 percent of request) and audits (15 

percent). 

SIGTARP prioritizes oversight of the ongoing EESA’s Home Affordable Modification Program 

(HAMP) which provides foreclosure relief to more than 600,000 homeowners and will remain 

open beyond FY 2023. Treasury remains obligated/committed to pay $1.0 billion in HAMP to 

keep these homeowners in their homes. In FY 2020 - 2021, Treasury distributed $919.5 million 

under HAMP to bank and non-bank mortgage servicers for the benefit of servicers, investors, 

and borrowers including large banks (i.e., $91.7 million to Wells Fargo, $51.4 million to JP 

Morgan Chase, $49.4 million to Bank of America, and $17.7 million to Citigroup), and large 

non-banks (i.e., $233.6 million to Ocwen Financial, $117.7 million to Nationstar). 

SIGTARP’s work has led to recoveries for the government and other victims of $11.3 billion – 

a 29 times total return on investment (ROI) from SIGTARP’s cumulative annual budgets. In FY 

2021, $222 million was recovered as a result of SIGTARP investigations, exceeding SIGTARP’s 

FY 2021 $19 million enacted budget by nearly 12 times. 

SIGTARP Investigations

SIGTARP’s law enforcement work has resulted in: (1) criminal prosecutions of 465 defendants 

(315 sentenced to prison, including 74 bankers); and (2) civil actions against 25 large Wall Street 

institutions and other entities. 

SIGTARP’s top law enforcement priority is to investigate and bring justice to unlawful conduct 

by financial institutions in HAMP. Our nation cannot have a resilient housing market run by 

financial institutions that violate the law. SIGTARP caught and investigated 121 foreclosure 
rescue scammers who were convicted after DOJ prosecutions. These scammers victimized 

nearly 31,000 homeowners seeking foreclosure relief through HAMP. For example, in 2021, 

three men were sentenced to prison, each for multimillion dollar scams against homeowners 

related to HAMP. A California man was sentenced to more than four years in prison in a 

nationwide $2.3 million fraud scam, under the names HOPE Services and HAMP Services, that 

victimized more than 400 homeowners related to HAMP. He was the fifth defendant sentenced 

to prison for this scam. The owner of Homesafe America was convicted for a $2.3 million scam 

against 500 homeowners related to HAMP. Additionally, a New York man was sentenced to six 

months in prison in a $9.4 million HAMP-related scam of New York homeowners. SIGTARP 

has additional open, confidential cases related to HAMP, including cases being worked in 

partnership with the Department of Justice. 

SIGTARP also has open investigations in the Hardest Hit Fund, which we are actively working 

with prosecutors. This includes investigations of fraud and environmental/safety crimes such as 

illegal dumping, asbestos exposure, or contaminated dirt used in demolitions of blighted 

properties. SIGTARP has a long-standing record of finding fraud, environmental/safety crimes, 

and corruption in this program. For example, in FY 2021, an Illinois-based demolition 

contractor was sentenced and ordered to pay restitution for defrauding HHF in connection with 

demolitions in Hammond, Indiana. SIGTARP’s investigation revealed that the contractor had 

improperly disposed of demolition debris, and had submitted false disposal, dumping, and fill 

dirt documentation to the City of Hammond. In addition, several individuals were prosecuted for 

defrauding HHF programs for unemployed homeowners. 

SIGTARP also continues to support the Department of Justice in long-standing prosecutions 

related to TARP banks. For example, in 2021, the former CEO of a TARP-recipient credit union 

was criminally charged and convicted of making a false statement to Treasury in connection with 

TARP. The CEO did not disclose to Treasury that the credit union had filed false call reports 

that reported millions of dollars of fictitious income to its federal regulator. SIGTARP’s 

investigations have resulted in criminal prosecutions of 108 bankers and 100 of their coconspirators. Courts sentenced 74 of the bankers to prison, along with 69 of their coconspirators. 

SIGTARP Audit

SIGTARP’s audits ensure that EESA programs are operating effectively and efficiently, that 

federal dollars are used as Congress intended, and that the government does not pay more for 

EESA than is necessary. In FY 2023, SIGTARP will prioritize identifying risk or vulnerabilities 

in HAMP that could hurt homeowners and Treasury’s goal for HAMP to provide affordable and 

sustainable housing. In August 2021, SIGTARP found that Treasury reduced its oversight of 

financial institutions that are HAMP servicers, and that servicers have violated HAMP rules by 

wrongfully cancelling homeowners out of HAMP, labelling homeowners as delinquent, and 

setting mortgage payments too high, along with other violations harming homeowners. In FY 

2021, SIGTARP also questioned $13 million in the HHF blight program paid to contractors in 

Michigan despite missing required supporting cost documentation for clean backfill dirt to fill 

the demolition hole. SIGTARP recommended that Treasury recoup any excessive payments. 
Budget Highlights 

Dollars in Thousands 

Special Inspector General for TARP FTE Amount 

FY 2022 Annualized CR 68 $19,000 

Changes to Base: 

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs): 0 

 

537 

Pay Annualization (2022 2.7% average pay raise) 62 

Pay Raise (2023 4.6% average pay raise) 

 

319 

Non-Pay 156 

Subtotal Changes to Base 0 

 

537 

FY 2023 Current Services 68 $19,537 

Program Changes: 

Program Decreases: 0 (10,537) 

Reduction in FTE (23) (2,677) 

Efficiency Savings 0 (360) 

Realignment from Annual to No-Year Funding 0 (7,500) 

Subtotal Program Changes 0 ($10,537) 

FY 2023 President's Budget Request 45 $9,000 

Budget Adjustments 

Budget Increases and Decreases Description 

Maintaining Current Levels (MCLs) .......................................................... +$537,000 / +0 FTE 

Pay Annualization (2.7%) +$62,000 / +0 FTE 

Funds are requested for annualization of the January 2022 2.7% average pay raise. 

Pay Raise (4.6%) +$319,000 / +0 FTE 

Funds are requested for a 4.6% average pay raise for January 2023. 

Non-Pay +$156,000 / +0 FTE 

Funds are requested for non-labor expenses such as travel, contracts, rent, supplies, 

and equipment. 

Program Decreases .................................................................................. -$10,537,000 / -23 FTE 

Staff Reduction -$2,677,000 / -23FTE 

Reduction in SIGTARP staff levels to 45 FTE. The reduction of FTE is part of the orderly wind 

down of SIGTARP. 

Efficiency Savings -$360,000/ -0 FTE 

Savings of $360,000 is the effect of reduction of FTE on Non-Personnel costs (training, travel, 

support services, etc.) 

Realignment from Annual to No-Year Funding -$7,500,000/ -0 FTE 

SIGTARP will fund a portion of its operations from its no-year account. 
Legislative Proposal 

Hiring Authority Similar to Other Special IG’s 

While SIGTARP is reducing its staffing, sometimes it suffers attrition in a critical role. 

SIGTARP is requesting additional special hiring authority to enable SIGTARP to backfill critical 

vacancies with qualified personnel. This authority is similar to the special authority available to 

the Office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), pursuant to 

5 U.S.C. 3161. 

Performance Highlights FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021 FY 2022 FY 2023 

Budget Activity Performance Measure Actual Actual Actual Target Target 

Investigations 

% of Cases Accepted for 

Consideration by Civil or Criminal 

Authorities Resulting in a Positive 

Final Outcome 

77 77 77 70 50 

Investigations 

% of Cases Presented to Civil or 

Criminal Authorities within Eight 

Months of Being Opened 

75 75 71 65 50 

Investigations 

% of Cases That are Joint 

Agency/Task Force Investigations 76 86 90 70 60 

Audit

Number of Completed Audit 

Products Identifying Waste, Abuse, 

Mismanagement, Inefficiencies, or 

Referrals to Investigations Division 

(units) 

4 4 3 3 2 

Description of Performance 

SIGTARP met all metric targets in FY 2021. The “Percentage of Cases Accepted for 

Consideration by Civil or Criminal Authorities Resulting in a Positive Final Outcome” in 

FY 2021 was 77 percent; the “Percentage of Cases Presented to Civil or Criminal Authorities 

within Eight Months of the Case Being Opened” was 71 percent; the “Percentage of Cases that 

are Joint Agency/Task Force Investigations” with other law enforcement agencies was 90 

percent. SIGTARP met its FY 2021 audit performance target with three products.