43 criminal investigations of Wall Street
The FBI says the total number of open corporate fraud investigations nationwide has also risen to 566.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Criminal investigations of Wall Street continue to soar and now total 43, a top FBI official told Congress Friday.
A month ago FBI Deputy Director John Pistole testified the number of major investigations numbered 36. In testimony on Friday, Pistole told the House Financial Services Committee the FBI now has "43 corporate fraud and financial institution matters directly related to the current financial crisis."
Pistole also said the total number of open corporate fraud investigations nationwide has risen to 566 -- up from 530 when he testified last month.
The number of FBI mortgage fraud investigation has also continued to climb, from about 1,800 in Pistole's earlier testimony to "more than 2,000."
Appearing on a panel of federal law enforcement regulators and enforcers, Pistole told the panel headed by House Financial Services Committee chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., that "increasing mortgage, corporate fraud, and financial institution failure case inventory is straining the FBI's limited white-collar crime resources."
Democrats and Republicans expressed sympathy and support for substantially increasing resources for law enforcement investigations aimed at combating financial crimes. 
