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Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Main navigation About Us Press Audits Reports & Testimony Investigations Hotline Careers Crimes & Fines Database The mission of the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) is to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in the more than $442 billion appropriated by Congress through the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act (EESA) and $2 billion appropriated through the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016, and to promote economy, efficiency, effectiveness, and accountability in these economic stability programs. SIGTARP conducts investigations of suspected illegal activity, and also independently audits, these EESA long-term economic stability programs. EESA has two parts:(1) Short-term Treasury purchases of "troubled assets," which led to investments in banks, insurance companies and automotive companies. (This part has been largely completed, as has SIGTARP's work in this area); and(2) Long-term programs intended to bring economic stability to the financial industry and communities by protecting home values and preserving homeownership - programs that spent $1.8 billion in fiscal year 2019, and will continue to operate until at least 2024.Under these long-term economic stability programs, the Department of Treasury and Fannie Mae (with assistance from Freddie Mac) run a program that funds incentives to more than 150 financial institutions, including some of the largest in our nation, to lower mortgage payments to terms that are affordable and sustainable for homeowners at risk of foreclosure. Treasury also funds grant-like programs administered by housing finance agencies in 19 states, including providing foreclosure relief to homeowners unemployed or underemployed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn More *//*-->*//*-->*/Semiannual Report to Congress Issued Features of the October 1, 2021 - March 31, 2022 Semiannual Report include:A letter from the Acting Special Inspector General on the Emergency Economic Stability Act. An overview of SIGTARP's oversight of Making Home Affordable, including the Home Affordable Modification Program. An overview of SIGTARP's oversight of banks and securities trading in TARP investment programs. An overview of SIGTARP's oversight of the Hardest Hit Fund. Read Report SIGTARP Launches Financial Institution Crimes & Fines Database and Calls for Creation of a National Financial Fraud RegistryThe Financial Institution Crimes & Fines Database lists the hundreds of defendants that have been convicted of a crime or received a fine for violations of civil laws as a result of investigations by SIGTARP. It also includes the dozens of corporate enforcement actions brought as a result of SIGTARP investigations.To broaden the database's impact, Special Inspector General Goldsmith Romero proposes the creation of a national Financial Fraud Registry that records all crimes and fines related to financial fraud.Access Database Press Release and Proposal Press California Man Sentenced to More than 4 Years in Prison in Nationwide $2.3 Million Fraud Scheme Under the Names Hope Services and HAMP Services That Victimized More Than 400 Homeowners Related to HAMP ProgramBrian Joseph Pacios sentenced to 52 months in prison, the fifth defendant sentenced to prison for a massive nationwide scheme to defraud homeowners that was related to the Home Affordable Modification Program (“HAMP”). Pacios also ordered to pay $2,372,766.28 in restitution.Read Press Release SIGTARP Investigations By the Numbers Countering the Ongoing and Evolving Threat of Financial Institution FraudThe 2008 financial crisis laid bare one of nation's vulnerabilities: financial institution fraud. As recent scandals show, this type of fraud does not go away: it evolves and grows more harmful over time - weakening our financial institutions from the inside. To fix this problem, Special Inspector General Goldsmith Romero proposes the creation of a permanent law enforcement office with a narrow mandate to investigate financial institution fraud.Read Proposal Bringing Accountability to the Insulated CEOExecutives from medium and small banks have been successfully prosecuted and sentenced to prison for committing crimes. But not big bank executives, who are purposely insulated from knowing about wrongdoing. Special Inspector General Goldsmith Romero proposes a crime and fraud certification to help fix that problem.Read ProposalSpecial Inspector General Goldsmith Romero speaks with CNBC about the proposalThe New York Times profiles SIGTARP's success investigating medium and small banks */Report TARP program abuseSubmit TipFollow @SIGTARP Footer menu Privacy Policy Accessibility Strategic Plan Peer Reviewed Reports No FEAR Act FOIA and Information Quality Act USA.gov Whistleblower Protection