ABN Agrees to Pay U.S. $41 Million in Settlement

ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc. has agreed to a $41-million settlement with the federal government for falsifying documents in tens of thousands of loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said.

In 2003, the department discovered underwriting deficiencies and improper conduct by an ABN employee. ABN launched an internal investigation, which found that a number of its employees falsely certified that two ABN underwriters had reviewed more than 28,000 loans before FHA endorsement, when they had not.

ABN has agreed to pay $16.85 million to the U.S. government and will not submit 783 defaulted loans for reimbursement, saving the FHA insurance fund about $24 million.