Start of the election season

[seanm123]

NY banker perp walks? (small bank, but perhaps a warm up?)

Abacus Bank Charged With Mortgage Fraud

Nineteen employees of Abacus Federal Savings Bank were charged by prosecutors in Manhattan with inflating the qualifications of mortgage applicants to meet federal loan standards.





http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/ny...it_ur_20120601

[c1ue]

Re: Start of the election season

My cynical side: Someone probably said "Round up the usual suspects", and they started alphabetically

[Thailandnotes]

Re: Start of the election season

"He said his office had uncovered the scheme after a borrower reported a suspicion about the bank to the local police precinct."

This made me laugh.

[Milton Kuo]

Re: Start of the election season

My cynical side: Someone probably said "Round up the usual suspects", and they started alphabetically

Yep. The regulatory authorities and law enforcement continue to to be ineffective in taking meaningful action against the biggest frauds. Even in 2011, Citigroup was still committing mortgage fraud even after its near-death experience in 2008:

In August 2011, five months after the meeting with Polkinghorne, Hunt sued Citigroup in Manhattan federal court, accusing its home-loan division of systematically violating U.S. mortgage regulations.


The U.S. Justice Department decided to join her suit in January. Citigroup didn’t dispute any of Hunt’s facts; it didn’t mount a defense in public or in court. On Feb. 15, 2012, the bank agreed to pay $158.3 million to the U.S. government to settle the case.


Citigroup admitted approving loans for government insurance that didn’t qualify under Federal Housing Administration rules. Prosecutors kept open the possibility of bringing criminal charges, without specifying targets.