Criminal attorney Ralph Behr, is representing or has been retained to counsel and advise other local criminal lawyers for over ten clients being prosecuted under the new statewide and federal task forces targeting mortgage brokers.
Criminal lawyers throughout Florida have seen a marked increase in arrests of mortgage brokers in the major cities of Fort Lauderdale and Miami .
Over 400 arrests have been made nationwide in what is now regarded as the first in a wave of prosecutions aimed at mortgage brokers and providers.
South Florida has been in the news because of falling real estate prices and rising mortgage defaults.
The prosecutions have been under theft and wire fraud criminal statutes and are both federal and state. Mortgage related crimes such as fraud are prosecuted as misstatement, misrepresentation, or omissions by an underwriter or lender.
In a press release to Florida newspapers, criminal attorney Ralph Behr announced his commitment to the fight to defend those charged with mortgage fraud.