January 19, 2012
To get the full background on the mortgage fraud front, I recommend Naked Capitalism. For now I highlight a post there today on a class action suit against JP Morgan. It begins:
To our knowledge, the suit filed by Ernest Michael Bakenie against JP Morgan is the first to accuse a major bank of widespread, systematic residential mortgage documentation and fraud…
We’ve reported repeatedly of widespread evidence of grotesque procedural abuses as servicers and foreclosure mill lawyers try to cover up for the fact that in many cases, mortgage notes were not transferred properly to securitization trusts, and the rigid way these deals were structured makes it impossible to remedy those failures at this juncture. Absent creating a time machine, the only fix is to fabricate documents that make it appear than things were done correctly. We’ve seen (as in in person) obvious forgeries submitted to the court (signatures obviously Photoshop shrunk to fit) and servicer personnel caught perjuring themselves, yet judges are remarkably unwilling to issue a ruling that hinges on finding that the plaintiff filed phony documents.
If this case moves forward, that reticence may change. Note that this case, which covers only the Central District of California, alleges that Chase engaged in over 7000 filings of motions of relief of stay in bankruptcy court using fabricated documents.
A faint hint of silver glimpsed through the clouds…
Posted in Corruption, Plutocracy |
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January 11, 2012
I tried to think up a comment on this, but, really, it speaks eloquently for itself.
ROME, Jan 10 (Reuters) – Organised crime has tightened its grip on the Italian economy during the economic crisis, making the Mafia the country’s biggest “bank” and squeezing the life out of thousands of small firms, according to a report on Tuesday.
Extortionate lending by criminal groups had become a “national emergency”, said the report by anti-crime group SOS Impresa.
Organised crime now generated annual turnover of about 140 billion euros ($178.89 billion) and profits of more than 100 billion euros, it added.
“With 65 billion euros in liquidity, the Mafia is Italy’s number one bank,” said a statement from the group, which was set up in Palermo a decade ago to oppose extortion rackets against small business.
…
Old style gangsters handing out cash in bars and pool halls had been replaced by apparently respectable bankers, lawyers or notaries, the report said.
“This is extortion with a clean face,” it added. “Through their professions, they know the mechanisms of the legal credit market and they often know the financial position of their victims perfectly.”
Click here for the full story.
Posted in Corruption, Signs of the times |
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May 13, 2011
What is a corrupted institution? How do institutions get corrupted? For a perspective to think about these questions I offer the videos below. Both are by Lawrence Lessig. The first he describes as “Ten minutes to explain corruption…” from a talk at the Harvard Thinks Big Forum. It’s dense in the way that haiku can be dense — much illuminated in a few words or, here, in a few minutes. The second video is the latest version of his expanded talk on this, “In Plain Sight Corruption,” given at a class at UC Berkeley. Useful, if not necessary, for understanding how government and other instutions actually operate. Includes recommendations for taking action to remedy this ruinous state of affairs.
The shorter course:
The longer course:
[Can't see the video in your RSS reader or email? Click here.]
Posted in Corruption, Plutocracy, Politics |
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April 3, 2011
A tale of the 1% or, more accurately, the 1% of 1%. Not much to be said here. The story of Russian billionaire Yuri Milner’s Silicon Valley “foot on the ground” is making the media rounds. One wonders how much is enough. I am fond of Epicurus’s take: ‘Nothing is enough for the man to whom enough is too little.’ More photos where this one is from: Business Insider.
Posted in Corruption, Signs of the times |
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March 31, 2011
One of the problems with greed is that it knows no bounds. In 1985 the top 1% of the Americans received 12% of the income and controlled 33% of the wealth. Now the figures are 25% and 40%. respectively. This is not a good thing…and not only from a notion of fairness. It’s a bad thing, also, because of what happens to nations when the distribution of wealth is so skewed.
Such is the warning that Joseph Stiglitz brings us in his article, “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,” in the current issue of Vanity Fair. One of several money quotes in a money article:
The more divided a society becomes in terms of wealth, the more reluctant the wealthy become to spend money on common needs. The rich don’t need to rely on government for parks or education or medical care or personal security—they can buy all these things for themselves. In the process, they become more distant from ordinary people, losing whatever empathy they may once have had. They also worry about strong government—one that could use its powers to adjust the balance, take some of their wealth, and invest it for the common good. The top 1 percent may complain about the kind of government we have in America, but in truth they like it just fine: too gridlocked to re-distribute, too divided to do anything but lower taxes.
And the consequences?
read more »
Posted in Corruption, Signs of the times, Social commentary |
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Annals of Greed: The Ever Fattening of the 1%
One of the problems with greed is that it knows no bounds. In 1985 the top 1% of the Americans received 12% of the income and controlled 33% of the wealth. Now the figures are 25% and 40%. respectively. This is not a good thing…and not only from a notion of fairness. It’s a bad thing, also, because of what happens to nations when the distribution of wealth is so skewed.
Such is the warning that Joseph Stiglitz brings us in his article, “Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%,” in the current issue of Vanity Fair. One of several money quotes in a money article:
And the consequences?read more »
Posted in Corruption, Signs of the times, Social commentary | Leave a Comment »