Big banks could face mortgage fraud charges
CBS/iStockphoto/AP
The SEC appears to be on the verge of doing what the Justice Department has yet to attempt -- prosecuting the biggest players responsible for the mortgage securities fiasco that trashed the U.S. economy.
The securities watchdog has sent so-called Wells notices to Goldman Sachs (GS), JPMorgan Chase (JPM), and Wells Fargo (WFC), indicating that the agency may recommend enforcement proceedings against the banking firms. The investigation seems to focus on whether the companies misrepresented the quality of securities based on subprime mortgages that they bundled and sold to investors in the years leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.
A move by the SEC to file suit would represent the federal government's strongest legal measure to date against Wall Street banks in connection with the mortgage meltdown. Despite ongoing investigations, the Justice Department so far has refrained from filing criminal charges against the firms for their role in the housing crash. It also ended related investigations into the country's biggest subprime lenders, including Countrywide Financial, IndyMac, and New Century Financial, after deciding not to prosecute the firms.
Lanny Breuer, head of the criminal division at the Justice Department, in December defended his agency's record of pursuing financial fraud in an interview with CBS TV program "60 Minutes."
"If a company is intentionally misrepresenting on its financial statements what it understands to be the financial condition of its company and makes very real representations that are false, we want to know about it. And we're gonna prosecute it," he said.
One explanation for the lack of federal prosecutions is that regulators have concluded that big banks' mortgage practices during the housing boom may have been reckless or unethical, but stopped short of being illegal. It isn't against the law to sell securities that go bad so long as firms don't do so knowingly. Criminal suits also face a higher burden of proof than civil cases. So prosecutors may not have brought charges out of concern that they couldn't make them stick.
While this is plausible in complex cases, it doesn't explain why charges have yet to be brought against a major bank concerning forged mortgage documents, which lenders admitted to following government and state probes into "robo-signing." Even a cursory examination of subprime mortgages issued between 2005 and 2007 turns up evidence of rampant and systematic fraud, from misrepresenting borrower information to faked signatures.
Proceeding with civil, rather than criminal, actions against major banks also could let individuals off the hook for their misdeeds. As New York Times reporters Louise Story and Gretchen Morgenson write, "The lack of criminal inquiries by the government means that restitution is often paid by innocent parties -- shareholders -- who have already been hurt by the questionable conduct."
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Ok People, our petition to the FBI, The Attorney General and the Mortgage Fraud Task Force is now gaining real speed and sure to go public exposing these companies and their Board of Directors. Join our list of other victims, if you also have real proof of forged or photo shopped deeds or mortgage documents please call me ASAP. As Past PR Director for a World Champion we will expose these people and their companies for what they are doing to the American Public but we need all of you to start getting out the word to others in any way that you can. Blogs,Twitter, Face Book etc. Do it every day, find others who were screwed, have lost or are about to lose their homes. Join the rest of us now. Its time to bring the current owners, services and Board of directors of these companies to justice for any forgery and or fraud that may have been committed against us or our state and federal courts. PUT THEM IN PRISON. They all knew or should have known that serious crimes may have been committed for some time now but they did nothing to stop it. They hide behind high priced attorneys who are now claiming that they didn't know the documents were forged, but don't believe it they all knew. Some attorneys have been backing out of these cases because of new laws, they are asking courts to be removed from these cases because they can now be held responsible, don't allow it object to their motions. Will they inform the courts of the fraud? Hell no! Their silence is only keeping this destructive train chugging along destroying families and clouding titles forever. Making payments to these guys or paying off your mortgage may come back to haunt you if real owners show up and make their demands. The crooks will be long gone and you may lose in the end anyway because lawyers cost big bucks.
The FBI has a special task force for crimes like these and there are other law enforcement agencies going after the big boys who cheat the American public.
Join us with your real proof and we will get justice. Call me Ray Shelton at 352-274-8467
THANK YOU IN ADVANCE
Michael Blatt
A lot of people need to go to prison based on the collusion and greed that tanked the economy.
When laws are strongly rooted in and born out of basic ethical and moral principles to serve and protect the greater good, it's not hard to see that there was plenty of law breaking that took place.