Arizona Attorney General Eric Holder announced Thursday in downtown Phoenix that the state will receive $1.7m this spring to combat mortgage fraud – a prolific problem during the real estate boom that grew following the crash and ensuing recession. The sum is more than 20% of the federal funds allocated by President Barack Obama to investigate and prosecute white collar criminals who continue to rip off uneducated consumers, costing the state millions in losses in the private sector, while fueling the foreclosure crises in one of the hardest hit cities in the country. “I’m confident that these new investments will allow us to build on the recent success we’ve seen across the country and the progress that’s been made here in Arizona,” said Holder, who was among the many high profile representatives of the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, which met in Phoenix for the second of a series of Mortgage Fraud Summits.