I 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 131 

To provide additional resources for Federal investigations and prosecutions 

of crimes related to the 2008 Financial Crisis, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 3, 2013 

Ms. KAPTUR introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To provide additional resources for Federal investigations 

and prosecutions of crimes related to the 2008 Financial 

Crisis, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Financial Crisis Crimi5 nal Investigation Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 

2 has testified that ‘‘today’s financial crisis dwarves 

3 the S&L crisis as financial institutions have reduced 

4 their assets by more than $1 trillion related to the 

5 current global financial crisis compared to the esti6 mated $160 million lost during the S&L crisis.’’ 

7 (Testimony by Mr. John Pistole, Deputy Director of 

8 the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United 

9 States Department of Justice before the U.S. Senate 

10 Committee on the Judiciary, February 11, 2009). 

11 (2) The FBI has testified that mortgage fraud 

12 was such a major contributor to the current global 

13 financial crisis that: ‘‘it would be irresponsible to ne14 glect mortgage fraud’s impact on the U.S. housing 

15 and financial markets’’. 

16 (3) In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the 

17 United States experienced a similar financial crisis 

18 with the collapse of the Savings and Loan institu19 tions. Again, according to Deputy Director Pistole, 

20 ‘‘the Department of Justice (DOJ), [and more spe21 cifically the FBI], were provided a number of tools 

22 through the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery 

23 and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and Crime 

24 Control Act of 1990 (CCA) to combat the aforemen25 tioned crisis. As stated in Senate Bill 331 dated 


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1 January 27, 2009, ‘in the wake of the Savings and 

2 Loan crisis of the 1980s, a series of strike forces 

3 based in 27 cities was staffed with 1,000 FBI 

4 agents and forensic experts and dozens of Federal 

5 prosecutors’.’’. 

6 (4) Fraud also played a decisive role in the Sav7 ings and Loan crisis. The FBI and Justice Depart8 ment made prosecuting those elite frauds among its 

9 highest priorities. This took a massive commitment 

10 of FBI resources, but it produced the most success11 ful prosecution of an epidemic of elite fraud in his12 tory—over 1,000 ‘‘priority’’ felony convictions of 

13 senior insiders, according to Professor William K. 

14 Black in his book ‘‘The Best Way to Rob a Bank 

15 is to Own One’’. 

16 (5) However, the FBI, because of its crippling 

17 personnel limitations, has been unable to assign suf18 ficient FBI agents assigned to investigate the cur19 rent global financial crisis. The FBI identified the 

20 mortgage fraud ‘‘epidemic’’ in congressional testi21 mony in September 2004. It had so few white-collar 

22 crime specialists available, however, that it was able 

23 to assign only 120 special agents to mortgage fraud 

24 cases—less than one-eighth the agents it found esVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:41 Jan 10, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H131.IH H131

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1 sential to respond adequately to the huge, but far 

2 smaller, Savings and Loan crisis. 

3 (6) Given the magnitude of the financial crisis 

4 of 2008 and the resulting losses and billions of tax5 payer dollars spent to keep the financial system 

6 from collapsing, the FBI should have no less than 

7 1,000 agents to address corporate, securities, and 

8 mortgage fraud located across the country, and, in 

9 addition, more forensic experts and Federal prosecu10 tors to uncover the crimes committed and bring the 

11 perpetrators to justice. 

12 (7) This authorization is expected to bring the 

13 FBI and prosecutorial staffing to the necessary lev14 els to investigate complex financial crimes and pros15 ecute those who have committed these crimes. 

16 SEC. 3. ALLOWABLE USE OF FUNDS. 

17 The funds authorized in this Act shall be used for 

18 the following: 

19 (1) The hiring of additional employees, includ20 ing the hiring of 1,000 FBI agents and, in addition, 

21 a sufficient number of forensic experts, by the Direc22 tor of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the 

23 Department of Justice to investigate corporate, secu24 rities, and mortgage fraud, and associated violations 


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1 of the law relating to the United States financial 

2 markets. 

3 (2) The hiring of additional employees by the 

4 Attorney General of the Department of Justice to 

5 prosecute violations of the laws relating to the 

6 United States financial markets. 

7 (3) The hiring of additional employees by the 

8 Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission 

9 Division of Enforcement to investigate and prosecute 

10 violations of the law relating to United States finan11 cial markets. 

12 SEC. 4. AUTHORIZATIONS. 

13 There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out 

14 this Act such sums as necessary for fiscal year 2013, fiscal 

15 year 2014, fiscal year 2015, and fiscal year 2016. Such 

16 sums shall be available until obligated. 

Æ 


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