Fed and other agencies to join U.S. fraud task force

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve and five other U.S. agencies will join a presidential corporate fraud task force that is being strengthened to focus on mortgage and securitization fraud cases, the U.S. Justice Department said on Tuesday.

The expansion is billed as the largest in the history of the force established in 2002, and comes as Wall Street reels from allegations of financial wrongdoing in the mortgage industry and elsewhere.

Some lawmakers and other critics have called for a more aggressive federal crackdown, including a special task force to handle many cases now being handled by regional offices.

"The new member agencies represent a continuing focus by the task force to crack down on mortgage fraud, particularly with regard to ongoing investigations into securitization fraud," the Justice Department said.

In addition to the Fed, other new agencies on the task force include the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Office of Thrift Supervision, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the special inspector general for the new Troubled Asset Relief Programme, the department said.

They will join senior officials from the FBI, U.S. Attorneys offices, the Treasury and Labour Departments, the Securities and Exchange Commission and several other agencies.

(Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen; Editing by David Storey)