Eric Holder has been criticized for failing to prosecute the major actors of the financial crisis. The Justice Department did take a big step in recent months, however, charging over 1,200 people for mortgage fraud.

Since March 1, 1,215 people have been charged with mortgage-fraud-related offenses in states from California to New Jersey, Attorney General Eric. H. Holder Jr. said. The defendants, 485 of whom have been arrested, are responsible for more than $2.3 billion in losses, he said [...]

The law enforcement effort, called Operation Stolen Dreams, was organized by President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which is targeting financial crimes nationwide. Financial fraud is a major and growing priority for the Justice Department, which is pouring resources into the issue.

“Mortgage fraud ruins lives, destroys families and devastates whole communities,” Holder said at a news conference. “We will use every tool available to investigate, prosecute and prevent mortgage fraud, and we will not rest until anyone preying on vulnerable American homeowners is brought to justice.”

The crackdown takes into account civil and criminal enforcement, aimed at recovering funds for the victims of mortgage fraud. Already, the government has taken in an estimated $147 million dollars. Add to that the SEC actions against Goldman Sachs, and other investigations of that ilk, and we’re certainly seeing more attention paid to financial fraud today than during the Bush Administration.

One thing about this – the financial fraud task force came out of an initiative passed by Congress last year, the same one that created the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. To all the anti-government types who believe that legislation cannot possibly succeed, check out the first attempt to stop a crime wave that costs borrowers billions of direct and has a direct through-line to the financial crisis that grips this economy. The Administration should be praised for getting to work on this.