Posts Tagged ‘mortgage fraud’

JP Morgan Chase CEO Is A Chameleon And A Snake

Monday, May 14th, 2012
Spiderman

Jamie Dimon may present himself as a apologetic CEO, but that is not his true face.

The Jamie Dimon Apology Tour is in full swing.

Perhaps you caught the first stop on this weekend’s Meet the Press. The chairman of JP Morgan Chase is trying to play us for suckers, publicly apologizing for his bank’s $2 billion loss.

He called it an “egregious mistake”. He claims he want to get rid of “Too Big To Fail”, and that he supported “portions” of the Dodd-Frank rule.

It might be one of the best acting performances I’ve seen all year. I think his chances of taking home an Oscar are all but guaranteed.

Maybe he had David Gregory fooled, (The NBC host’s lack of tough follow-up questions would seem to indicate it) but I am not buying it.

The reality is had JP Morgan not lobbied so hard against Dodd-Frank, and paid the lobbyists as much as they did, Dodd-Frank would have been much, much tougher, and Dimon would have $2 billion more in his coiffures.

It’s irony in its purest form.

This loss, which came on some very risky trades, is a perfect symbol of Wall Street’s hubris and greed. And it just goes to show you that the big banks have learned nothing from the crisis of years past.

And neither has Dimon. His apology on Meet The Press was the vocal equivalent of crocodile tears. He is another Chameleon, another Two-Face, putting on a public show for the masses, while privately lambasting anyone who is really looking to end “Too Big To Fail” when he thinks we are not paying attention.
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Schneiderman And Mortgage Fraud Task Force: Are We Being Hoodwinked?

Friday, April 20th, 2012

 

Are we being hoodwinked by the mortgage fraud unit?

Courtesy:Cesar Cabrera Photography

When President Obama stood before Congress and the American People three months ago and promised to hold those behind the housing crisis ‘accountable’, I was hopeful.

In the days that followed, his new field general Eric Schneiderman was unveiled and almost immediately action was taken.

When Schneiderman issued subpoenas, just days after the President appointed him to run his new Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, I thought that perhaps, FINALLY, a corner had been turned.

But it’s becoming clear to me now that the train that is the RMBS Working Group hasn’t left the station, and depending on who you believe, there may not even me a station built yet!

After those few weeks of full-court press by Schneiderman, there hadn’t been a peep about the status of the Working Group’s investigation. Yes it may have only been three months, yet I fear that the bold vision you and I were sold might turn out to be just another empty promise.

The press only turned its attention back to the Working Group after a brutal Op-Ed in the New York Daily News. The co-directors of the Metro Industrial Areas Foundation, a citizens coalition group, called Schneiderman out and said they had yet to see any footprint of the RMBS Working Group’s investigation.

The 55 staff members promised by Attorney General Eric Holder were nowhere to be found, the pair claimed.

Yet even this Op-Ed could only draw Schneiderman’s mouthpiece out of the woodwork, rather than the Attorney General himself.

Spokesman Danny Kanner refuted their claims, saying that attorneys and other investigators had already been hired, that we shouldn’t draw any conclusions by the lack of public announcements.
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Foreclosure Crisis: Will Government Right This Sinking Ship?

Monday, January 16th, 2012

Photo Courtesy:Reuters

We’ve all been reading with horror about the developing situation in Italy with the Costa Concordia, the cruise ship that capsized last Friday, killing several people.

What really caught our attention is the actions of the ship’s captain Francesco Schettino, who reportedly abandoned ship in the middle of the evacuations. He’s been blamed for causing the tragedy by recklessly taking the ship off-course and too close to shore

We can not compare the loss of life with the foreclosure crisis, but an argument can certainly be made that there is a parallel between the captain’s actions and that of big banks.

Banks have also been reckless, taking the economy from its intended destination and showing a complete lack of disregard with their shady real estate and foreclosure practices. We believe they have abandoned the homeowner and the taxpayer, while failing to consider their well-being and solely worrying about their own self-preservation.

Whereas the cruise line’s executives have quickly held the captain accountable, we’ve yet to see our federal government do the same to the banks, despite countless opportunities to do so.

In this excellent editorial published in the New York Times, the paper calls on President Obama to steer this ship back on course by forming an inter-agency task force to investigate the banks for their actions, many of which could be considered criminal.

Yes there’s been investigations and settlements, but there’s been very little accountability for the top executives, who’ve been rarely held personally responsible. For example Angelo Mozilo, the former chief executive of Countrywide, didn’t have to admit to any wrongdoing when he settled civil fraud charged level by the SEC. Yes he had to pay a 67.5 million dollar fine, but that’s a fraction of the 521.5 million he’s reported to have received between 2000 and 2008, according to the NY Times.
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Banks Go Straight to Jail? Defrauding Investors out of Millions gets Chance Card

Friday, October 28th, 2011

Banks continue to draw the lucky Get out of Jail Free card! South Florida Law Blog’sForeclosure Defense Attorney Roy Oppenheim asks: If the government is truly interested in reducing mortgage fraud, why not go after the ones who cause a larger impact on the economy and affect homeowners on a national scale? It seems the banks get the chance card and the little guys go directly to jail.

Last week Citigroup agreed to pay $285 million in a settlement agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (S.E.C.). Citigroup to Pay $285 Million to Settle S.E.C. Complaint – NYTimes.com. That’s pocket change for a giant bank that has made over $3.8 billion in profits just last quarter. The defrauded investors contributed to a $ 1 billion portfolio stuffed with high risk mortgage investments. What these unsuspecting investors didn’t know is that Citigroup bet against these investments in hopes that they would lose value. Not only did Citigroup bet against the portfolio, but it was responsible for selecting the mortgage investments that would make up the portfolio.

With all the questionable bank practices that have come to light since the housing market bubble bursts, the S.E.C. has done little to reprimand giants such as Citibank. Not only has the S.E.C or the Justice Department failed to go after the banks, they also have done little to prosecute banking executives who were no doubt involved in criminal activity stemming from the banking crisis. While a bank can’t be sent to jail, the high ranking executives directly responsible for these unethical banking practices should not be able to escape criminal liability. And yet, while the powerful banks and senior executives appear to be above the law, the government has not hesitated in going after individuals who lack powerful political influence on Washington.
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