60 minutes - FORECLOSURE FRAUD

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Former Ameriquest Employee fired after he reported illegal activity, sued under the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

Former Ameriquest Employee fired after he reported illegal activity, sued under the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002


Those of you who’ve had any dealings with Ameriquest may find this interesting…


Via William McCloskey

William McCloskey worked for Ameriquest from November 2004 till March 2005. William was fired after he reported illegal activity behind the walls of his Ameriquest branch, which virtually mirrored all of the widespread reports about the company (to local detectives, the PA Attorney General, the S.E.C. and the F.B.I).

William sued Ameriquest Mortgage Company under the whistleblower provision of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002. The act pertained to publicly traded companies and issuers of securities under Section 15(d) and 12h-3 of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.

[WJM 7]

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President Obama’s view of fraud “from 40,000 feet” (without an oxygen mask) – William K. Black

President Obama’s view of fraud “from 40,000 feet” (without an oxygen mask) – William K. Black


New Economic Perspectives-

Sixty Minutes’ December 11, 2011 interview of President Obama included the following gem:

KROFT: One of the things that surprised me the most about this poll is that 42%, when asked who your policies favor the most, 42% said Wall Street. Only 35% said average Americans. My suspicion is some of that may have to do with the fact that there’s not been any prosecutions, criminal prosecutions, of people on Wall Street. And that the civil charges that have been brought have often resulted in what many people think have been slap on the wrists, fines. “Cost of doing business,” I think you called it in the Kansas speech. Are you disappointed by that?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Well, I think you’re absolutely right in your interpretation. And, you know, I can’t, as President of the United States, comment on the decisions about particular prosecutions. That’s the job of the Justice Department. And we keep those things separate, so that there’s no political influence on decisions made by professional prosecutors. I can tell you, just from 40,000 feet, that some of the most damaging behavior on Wall Street, in some cases, some of the least ethical behavior on Wall Street, wasn’t illegal.

That’s exactly why we had to change the laws. And that’s why we put in place the toughest financial reform package since F.D.R. and the Great Depression. And that law is not yet fully implemented, but already what we’re doing is we’ve said to banks, “You know what? You can’t take wild risks with other people’s money. You can’t expect a taxpayer bailout.

Hallucinations occur at high altitude when you become oxygen deprived.

[…]

[NEW ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES]

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There Goes the Neighborhood – 60 Minutes

There Goes the Neighborhood – 60 Minutes


Bank foreclosures and abandonment are causing high home vacancy levels in neighborhoods across the country. Scott Pelley travels to Cleveland, a city that’s fighting back against blight.

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Prosecuting Wall Street, pt. 2 – 60 Minutes – CBS News

Prosecuting Wall Street, pt. 2 – 60 Minutes – CBS News


Two high-ranking financial whistleblowers say they tried to warn their superiors about defective and even fraudulent mortgages. So why haven’t the companies or their executives been prosecuted? Steve Kroft reports.

Read Story: Prosecuting Wall Street

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Prosecuting Wall Street, pt. 1 – 60 Minutes – CBS News

Prosecuting Wall Street, pt. 1 – 60 Minutes – CBS News


Two high-ranking financial whistleblowers say they tried to warn their superiors about defective and even fraudulent mortgages. So why haven’t the companies or their executives been prosecuted? Steve Kroft reports.

Read Story: Prosecuting Wall Street

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Behind the financial crisis: Tom Borgers A Fraud Investigator Talks – 60 Minutes Overtime

Behind the financial crisis: Tom Borgers A Fraud Investigator Talks – 60 Minutes Overtime


CBS 60 MINUTES

“It’s been three years since the financial crisis crippled the American economy,” Steve Kroft begins his 60 Minutes piece this week. “[Yet] there has not been a single prosecution of a high ranking Wall Street executive or major financial firm.”

60 Minutes producer James Jacoby wanted to find out why, and one of the first people he spoke with was Tom Borgers, a man who literally helped write the book on the financial meltdown.

Borgers was a senior fraud investigator for the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission (FCIC), a bipartisan panel set up by the Obama administration to examine the causes of the crisis. In the end, the FCIC issued a 500-page report on its findings, required reading for James and associate producer Maria Gavrilovic.

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Bank Drops Legal Pressure On Foreclosure Fraud Expert’s Family

Bank Drops Legal Pressure On Foreclosure Fraud Expert’s Family


HuffPO-

Deutsche Bank has dropped the son of high-profile foreclosure fraud investigator Lynn Szymoniak from the foreclosure case against her, according to new court documents.

The bank had added Szymoniak’s son, Mark Cullen, to the foreclosure suit this May, a move that many experts saw as an act of retaliation against Szymoniak, who has publicized banks’ widespread use of forged signatures in the foreclosure process to improperly give borrowers the boot. On June 8, lawyers filed a “Notice of Dropping Party” with the Florida court dismissing its previous claims against Cullen.

Continue reading [HUFFINGTONPOST]

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Criminal Affirmance: Going Beyond the Deterrence Paradigm to Examine the Social Meaning Expressed by Exercising Discretion to Decline Prosecution of Elite Crime

Criminal Affirmance: Going Beyond the Deterrence Paradigm to Examine the Social Meaning Expressed by Exercising Discretion to Decline Prosecution of Elite Crime


Professor Mary K. Ramirez*, Washburn University School of Law

*Professor Ramirez is a thirteen-year veteran of the Department of Justice, having worked as a Senior Trial Attorney with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Kansas, and as a Trial Attorney for the DOJ Antitrust Division.

Abstract

Criminal Affirmance: Going Beyond the Deterrence Paradigm to Examine the Social Meaning Expressed by Exercising Discretion to Decline Prosecution of Elite Crime

Professor Mary Kreiner Ramirez

Article Abstract Recent financial scandals and the relative paucity of criminal prosecutions in response suggest a new reality in the criminal law system: some wrongful actors appear above the law and immune from criminal prosecution. As such, the criminal prosecutorial system affirms much of the wrongdoing giving rise to the crisis. This leaves the same elites undisturbed at the apex of the financial sector, and creates perverse incentives for any successors. Further, this undermines the legitimacy of the rule of law and encourages even more lawlessness among the entire population. These considerations transcend deterrence as well as retribution as a traditional basis for criminal punishment. Affirmance is far more costly and dangerous with respect to the crimes of powerful elites that control large organizations than can be accounted for under traditional nations of deterrence. Few limits are placed on a prosecutor’s discretionary decision about whom to prosecute, and many factors against prosecution are available, especially in resource-intensive white collar crime prosecutions. This article asserts that prosecutors should not exercise that discretion without considering its potential affirmance of crime.

[ipaper docId=57172143 access_key=key-1uhrrfzjkgrqacwy5znf height=600 width=600 /]

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Sure They’re Technical Errors | Mortgage servicer industry error rate might be 10 times higher says U.S. Trustee

Sure They’re Technical Errors | Mortgage servicer industry error rate might be 10 times higher says U.S. Trustee


NYTimes’s Gretchen Morgenson

Mistakes happen, of course. And loan servicers like to contend that if errors occur, they are rare and honestly made. But after sifting through the data produced by this investigation, Mr. White disagreed that problems are rare. “In Senate testimony, an executive from Countrywide said its error rate was 1 percent,” Mr. White recalled. “The mortgage servicer industry error rate might be 10 times higher, based on the number of cases we are looking at.”

“There are continued flaws in the process, and they are not merely technical,” Mr. White continued. “Those flaws undermine the integrity of the bankruptcy system. Many homeowners have been harmed, including where the lender has come in and said ‘we want to lift the stay and go back into foreclosure proceedings,’ even though they lacked a sufficient basis to do it.”


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Independent reviews in mortgage servicer consent orders to stay sealed

Independent reviews in mortgage servicer consent orders to stay sealed


The investigation conducted by the OCC and the Fed included a review of just 100 foreclosure files.

Housing Wire-

When mortgage servicers signed consent orders with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Reserve, these companies were required to hire outside firms to conduct “look back” evaluations of questionable foreclosure practices.

But these reviews will not be made public, according to an OCC spokesman.

William Black | ‘If you don’t look; you don’t find, Wherever you look; you will find’

~

FDIC Chair Shelia Bair concurs with O’Brien and Thigpen that damages to consumer’s “has yet to be quantified”

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Deutsche Bank Sues Foreclosure Fraud Expert’s Son With No Financial Interest In Her Case

Deutsche Bank Sues Foreclosure Fraud Expert’s Son With No Financial Interest In Her Case


Disgusting…

HuffPO-

But Deutsche Bank wasn’t just going after her. The bank was also attempting to sue her son, Mark Cullen, who is currently pursuing a graduate degree in poetry at the New School in New York. Cullen hasn’t lived in Szymoniak’s house for seven years and is not a party to any aspect of her mortgagehe has no interest in either the property or the loan, and never has had any such interest, according to Szymoniak.

[…]

And other Florida foreclosure experts say it’s difficult to interpret Deutsche Bank’s move as anything other than retaliation for Szymoniak’s media presence. If it is not, in fact, retaliation, they argue, then Deutsche Bank’s lawyers have demonstrated rank incompetence.


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“FRAUDCLOSURE” Whistleblowers Speak Out Against Loan Modifications That Helped Banks Not Homeowners | Dylan Ratigan

“FRAUDCLOSURE” Whistleblowers Speak Out Against Loan Modifications That Helped Banks Not Homeowners | Dylan Ratigan


NBC’s Lisa Myers introduces us to two industry whistleblowers in the third of her exclusive reports.

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FDIC’s Bair: Millions of Foreclosures Could Be ‘Infected’

FDIC’s Bair: Millions of Foreclosures Could Be ‘Infected’


This is HUGE!!

WSJ-

The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is warning that flaws may have “infected millions of foreclosures” and questioned whether other regulators’ inquiries into problems at the nation’s mortgage-servicing companies have been thorough enough.

“We do not yet really know the full extent of the problem,” FDIC Chairman Sheila Bair said Thursday in written remarks submitted to a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee. “Flawed mortgage-banking processes have potentially infected millions of foreclosures, and the damages to be assessed against these operations could be significant and take years to materialize.”


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MI Clerks Bullard, Hertel testify before House committee about fraudulent mortgage documents

MI Clerks Bullard, Hertel testify before House committee about fraudulent mortgage documents


LegalNews-

If someone does not pay their mortgage they will lose their home. But banks have to play by the rules, too.” Hertel further stated,


“We are looking at a massive fraud committed against the people of the state of Michigan.”


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[VIDEO] Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Press Release on Mortgage Fraud

[VIDEO] Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Press Release on Mortgage Fraud


From previous post below:

NC Reg. of Deeds Thigpen Releases Approx. 4,500 DocX Signature Spread Sheet

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BofA, Wells Fargo Mortgage Papers Challenged by North Carolina Official

BofA, Wells Fargo Mortgage Papers Challenged by North Carolina Official


BLOOMBERG-

The signatures of the same names on more than 4,500 documents handled by Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS) for real estate valued at $624.8 million varied enough to raise doubts about their validity, Jeff Thigpen, register of deeds in Guilford County, North Carolina, told reporters today in Greensboro.

Check out the link to documents below…

NC Reg. of Deeds Thigpen Releases Approx. 4,500 DocX Signature Spread Sheet

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NC Reg. of Deeds Thigpen Releases Approx. 4,500 DocX Signature Spread Sheet

NC Reg. of Deeds Thigpen Releases Approx. 4,500 DocX Signature Spread Sheet


Take a look at all these residents with DocX signatures…this is only the beginning to his quest. In matter of fact he’s found about 2,300 others.

mortgage fraud information from press conference


[ipaper docId=54630751 access_key=key-18dtymzwmp9dng31z6jd height=600 width=600 /]

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Bristol County Board of Commissioners ask AG Martha Coakley about possible lawsuit against MERS

Bristol County Board of Commissioners ask AG Martha Coakley about possible lawsuit against MERS


TAUNTON —

The Bristol County Board of Commisioners voted unanimously Tuesday to send a letter to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley expressing interest in pursuing litigation against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc, commonly known as MERS, for skirting public recording laws.

MERS is a private network that is partly owned by Bank of America. The commissioners did not specify how much they are looking to recover. “It’d be really rough numbers,” said Commissioner John Mitchell. “We’d have to find out.”

Read more: http://www.tauntongazette.com/news/x916857902/Bristol-County-Board-of-Commissioners-ask-AG-Martha-Coakley-about-possible-lawsuit-against-mortgage-corporation#ixzz1LM9hlvuD

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MA Register of Deeds John O’Brien Uncovers Questionable and Possibly Fraudulent Signatures

MA Register of Deeds John O’Brien Uncovers Questionable and Possibly Fraudulent Signatures


JOHN L. O’BRIEN, JR.
Register of Deeds Phone: 978-542-1704 Fax: 978-542-1706
website: www.salemdeeds.com
Commonwealth of Massachusetts Southern Essex District Registry of Deeds
Shetland Park 45 Congress Street Suite 4100
Salem, Massachusetts 01970

NEWS FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Salem, MA May 3rd, 2011
Contact: Kevin Harvey, 1st Assistant Register 978-542-1724
kevin.harvey@sec.state.ma.us

The 1960’s television show “To Tell the Truth”, where imposters pretend to be the central character, is playing out today at the Essex Southern District Registry of Deeds and Register John O’Brien is not happy about it. After the 60 Minutes’ expose on Mortgage Fraud was aired and showed that leading mortgage services have been using forged documents to foreclose on homeowners, Register John O’Brien reviewed mortgage discharges recorded in his Registry. To view the 60 Minutes Article and a link to the video, go to http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/04/01/60minutes/main20049646.shtml

What he found astonished him. In 2010 alone, 286 Bank of America’s mortgage discharges were recorded with what he calls “questionable and possibly fraudulent signatures of the notorious Linda Green.” O’Brien said that he has found at least four variations of Green’s signature recorded in his Registry.

Green, who was spotlighted in the 60 Minutes Episode, had her name signed by various individuals on thousands of documents recorded at Registries of Deeds throughout the state of Massachusetts and across the nation. In Register O’Brien’s opinion, these documents have corrupted Essex County homeowner’s chains of title. “I have a responsibility to ensure that the documents recorded in my Registry meet the statutory requirements of recording. If, however, I am presented with evidence that clearly shows that fraud may have been committed then it is my responsibility as the keeper of records to turn these documents over to the appropriate authorities for their review and action.”

O’Brien has today forwarded certified copies of these discharges to United States Attorney, Carmen Ortez, Attorney General, Martha Coakley, and Essex County District Attorney, Jonathan Blodgett. “If what I suspect has happened, then the people who have committed this fraud should be held accountable for their actions” commented O’Brien. O’Brien fears that this fraudulent behavior is only the tip of the iceberg and feels strongly that lenders and mortgage servicers should be held accountable for their actions. Actions which he originally only thought involved a scheme to circumvent the land recordation system by creating a private, for profit cyber-registry to benefit the big bank’s pocketbooks. Now it seems that MERS, and its member banks may have added fraud to their repertoire of services that they offer.

Register O’Brien questions if a good portion of this foreclosure mess could have been avoided in the first place, if the big banks did what they were supposed to do and recorded assignments like other lenders do. Register O’Brien believes: 1) Homeowners deserve to know who owns their mortgages; 2) Assignments should be recorded in the appropriate registry of deeds, each and every time a mortgage is sold, to provided transparency and public disclosure of ownership; and 3) Any and all documents should be signed by an authorized authority at the entity that actually owns and holds the note secured by the mortgage.

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Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Uncovers Possible Fraud by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MERS

Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Uncovers Possible Fraud by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MERS


PRESS RELEASE
May 2, 2011

For Immediate Release
Greensboro, NC
May 2, 2011

Contact:  Jeff Thigpen Guilford County Register of Deeds

Ph. 336-451-5300
Ph.  336-641-4802
Email: jthigpe@co.guilford.nc.us

PRESS RELEASE

Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen Uncovers Possible Fraud by Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and MERS

Guilford County Register of Deeds Jeff Thigpen will hold a press conference in the Blue Room in the Old Guilford County Courthouse on Wednesday, May 6th at 10 am  to reveal the findings of an internal investigation initiated after a 60 Minutes segment called “The Mortgage Paperwork Mess” that followed alleged fraud committed the company Doc X, owned by Lender Proccessing Services (LPS) and contracted with major mortgage and banking institutions including Wells Fargo, Bank of America and the Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) Inc.

Register of Deeds Thigpen will be joined by Lynn Szymoniak, an attorney interviewed during the segment by 60 Minutes Scott Pelley.   The findings of this internal investigation will be revealed and forwarded to the appropriate federal and state agencies including the Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS), and Office of Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

The findings will be submitted to Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, heading the 50 State Attorney General Investigations into Foreclosure Fraud, and North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, current President of the National Association of Attorneys General for their consideration and the financial services institutions.

Register of Deeds Thigpen will also announce actions taken involving Lenders and Mortgage companies to address the findings of this investigation.

###

*April 4, 2011 60 Minutes segment on Mortgage Mess:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7361572n

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7361572n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

source: Guildforddeeds.com

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FBI Investigating Alleged Forged “DOCX” Signature In Michigan

FBI Investigating Alleged Forged “DOCX” Signature In Michigan


MICHIGAN MESSENGER-

Curtis Hertel Jr., Register of Deeds for Ingham County, says that a discovery he made involving alleged fraudulent mortgage documents is now being investigated by both the Ingham County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI.

“Yes, this is, in my opinion, fraud,” Hertel said. “This is a situation where people were forging someone else’s name to a legal document to take another person’s property. That is fraud.”


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MI Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Investigating Linda Green DOCX Forged Documents

MI Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel Investigating Linda Green DOCX Forged Documents


Curtis Hertel: “If you look at the signatures, it’s amazing that they thought they could get away with this.”

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