[JURIST] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official website] is currently investigating 2,500 cases of public corruption, a 50 percent increase from five years ago, FBI Director Robert Mueller [official profile] said in a Thursday speech [text] to the American Bar Association. Mueller also said that corporate fraud cases had increased by more than 80 percent from five years ago, due in large part to recent mortgage fraud cases. The FBI currently has over 1,300 mortgage fraud cases under investigation, including 19 corporate fraud matters related to the sub prime-lending crisis [FBI report]. AP has more.

The number of criminal cases pursued by the FBI has drastically decreased since the 9/11 attacks, according to statistics released by the Department of Justice [official website] in 2006. Those statistics revealed that the FBI has shifted its traditional focus [FBI backgrounder] on drugs and white collar crimes to terrorism.