Federal prosecutors in Florida made headlines with the arrest of Joseph Daniele, a property developer accused of participating in a mortgage fraud scam affecting approximated 400 homes between 2004 and 2008.

The U.S. District Court approved an agreement to defer prosecution of Wachovia Bank.

Florida has been particularly hard hit by the sub-prime mortgage disaster. According to a 2008 report released by the Mortgage Asset Research Institute, Florida ranks 2nd in the country in the number of reported mortgage fraud cases.

Even before the national subprime problem became a full-blown crisis in 2007-2008, mortgage fraud was a serious problem in Florida. According to the Mortgage Asset Release Institute, Florida ranked second in the nation for reported mortgage scams in 2008. Industry statistics indicated that one in ten mortgage applications included some form of misrepresentation.