WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Senate overwhelmingly approved Tuesday a bill targeting mortgage fraud and several other types of financial fraud, giving federal investigators more tools to investigate and prosecute scams.
The measure, approved by a 92-4 vote, is aimed at stemming several types of fraud including stock market fraud and irregularities linked to institutions receiving public aid.
The bill takes direct aim at fraudulent or subprime mortgage loans, an underlying cause of the mortgage crisis in the United States.
It also gives agents from the FBI, the Secret Service and the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) extended authority to investigate and prosecute such crimes.
"This housing crisis is the root of our larger economic crisis. As the mortgage mess rapidly worsens -- and hurting more hardworking families -- the implications for every other part of our economy are disastrous," said Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.
"While we're working to help the millions of desperate homeowners who need to modify their mortgages, countless swindlers are working to take advantage of them. And the way the system works now, we can't keep up."
A similar measure is to be taken up by the House of Representatives.
An amendment added funds to create an independent commission that would examine what contributed to the financial crisis. The panel would be similar to the September 11 Commission, which investigated the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.
"The only way to get an objective evaluation of where mistakes were made is to create an independent commission of experts to ask what went right, what went wrong and what could we have done to prevent this," said Senator Johnny Isakson, a top bill sponsor.
The commission would have 18 months to investigate, with subpoena powers, what led to the country's worst economic recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s, and to offer recommendations to avoid a new slump in the future.
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