That includes mortgage fraud, said FBI Director Robert Mueller, who spoke Wednesday during a visit to his agency's field office in Salt Lake City. Mueller said there are a "number of investigations" into mortgage fraud in Utah, Idaho and Montana - the three states where the FBI agents are controlled by the Salt Lake City office. Mueller declined to discuss specific investigations.

A report released in March ranked Utah as having the fifth worse mortgage fraud problem in the country and the FBI's western region had the second-most pending FBI mortgage investigations.

A state and federal task force has been created in the state to investigate the crimes.

Before taking questions from reporters, Mueller discussed how preventing terrorism remains an FBI priority. Investigators in Utah have uncovered no major plots or terrorism financing since 2001, but Mueller pointed out how the the Sept. 11 hijackers lived in multiple states. Mueller said every FBI station needs to remain vigilant.

"Those who are contemplating attacks may move around the country," Mueller said.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Jim Winder said Wednesday he would like the FBI to focus on more conventional crime.

"Resources are very finite in the local municipalities and jurisdictions, and the services the FBI has provided traditionally, that void has not been filled," Winder said.

Winder said the FBI has traditionally been valuable in investigating such crimes as bank robberies and kidnappings, but he has seen fewer federal agents dedicated to those crimes.

The Seattle Post- Intelligencer in April reported the number of FBI investigations since Sept. 11 has declined while agents have been diverted to terrorism investigations and away from white-collar and violent crimes.

Mueller said he does not expect FBI priorities to change when a new president takes office next year.

ncarlisle@sltrib.com