Consumer Protection › Criminal Law

CFPB and Justice Department Team Up on Enforcement

On May 7, 2013, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ("CFPB" or “Bureau”) and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced a joint law enforcement effort in U.S. District Court for...more

FinCEN: Accountant and Elder Abuse

We have been keeping track of FinCEN's SAR Activity Review – Trends, Tips & Issues virtually from its inception. In its just issued May 2013 report, FinCEN provides new information regarding two areas of importance: 1)...more

DOJ Files First Criminal Action On CFPB Referral, CFPB Files Parallel Civil Suit

On May 7, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced mail and wire fraud charges against a debt settlement firm, its owner, and three of its employees. ...more

CFPB Criminal Referral

In what he called "a harbinger of an especially potent partnership," Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced Tuesday the filing of criminal charges against a New York debt settlement firm...more

CFPB announces criminal referral relating to alleged debt-relief scam

At a press conference yesterday in New York City, Director Cordray announced that the CFPB had made a criminal referral to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York arising out of the CFPB’s...more

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman To Sue Wells Fargo & Bank Of America For Violating National Mortgage Settlement

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman To Sue Wells Fargo & Bank Of America For Violating National Mortgage Settlement...more

Years Later, PCA Employees Indicted

I had the following email exchange earlier this year with a concerned client: Client (in late January 2013): "Hi Steve, I was wondering if you knew of any cases where employees were prosecuted for not following...more

YOU CAN’T TRUST OUR NATIONAL BANKS MORTGAGE PAPER TRAIL

FRAUD, NOT MISTAKES AND ERRORS, HAVE PERMEATED THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS IN AMERICA

FRAUD, NOT MISTAKES AND ERRORS, HAVE PERMEATED THE FORECLOSURE PROCESS IN AMERICA When judges begin ordering the accounting and financial books and records of the alleged owner of a borrower’s note to be produced, not...more

The Enforcement Powers of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

For several months, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB” or “Bureau”) has implemented a spate of enforcement actions against banks and non-banks. My interest in this article is neither to re-litigate those cases...more

Virtual Currency Under Federal Anti-Money Laundering Laws: FinCEN Provides Guidance

A lot of companies transact in credits that might be called “virtual currency.” Most of these companies probably do not consider themselves financial institutions. Many have never considered the possibility that they need to...more

USCIS and SEC Stakeholder Engagement: EB-5 Investments and Implications under Federal Securities Law

By Wassem M. Amin, Esq. On April 3, 2013, USCIS and the SEC held a joint conference call to discuss what aspects of federal securities law are implicated by EB-5 Investments, as it relates to both the issuer and the...more

Loan Originator Compensation: New Rules

On January 24, 2013, as the last of the Final Rules of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rolled out, I offered an outline of all of them, entitled "CFPB's Gang of Seven (Final Rules)".* I listed them in...more

Insights Into The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force Priorities For 2013

On March 20, 2013, Michael Bresnick, Executive Director of DOJ’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force gave a speech at the Exchequer Club of Washington, DC highlighting recent accomplishments of the Task Force and outlining...more

United States Government Accountability Office GAO Report to Congressional Requesters

GAO Report on Independent Foreclosure Reviews Exposes OCC, Fed’s Plan to Deliberately Minimize Evidence of Borrower Harm

FORECLOSURE REVIEW Lessons Learned Could Enhance Continuing Reviews and Activities under Amended Consent Orders The Government Accountability Office released their second report on the Independent Foreclosure Reviews. At...more

FinCEN Issues Virtual Currency Guidance

The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) has issued formal guidance to clarify the anti-money laundering obligations of administrators and exchangers of convertible virtual currency. “Virtual” currency, unlike...more

CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES- COMMITTEE ON OVERSIGHT & GOVERNMENT REFORM

Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) March 25, 2013 letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke...

Senator Elizabeth Warren and Representative Elijah Cummings to Meet with Fed and OCC on Foreclosure Abuses Washington, D.C. March 25, 2013 Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Rep. Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD) sent a...more

Nevada SB 346 (SEN BROWER): AN ACT relating to gaming; revising provisions governing the acceptance of certain wagers by a...

Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Under existing law, the Nevada Gaming Commission and the State Gaming Control Board are required to perform various acts relating to the regulation and control of gaming. (NRS 463.140)...more

Steven Getman: Legal links of interest for the week ending March 15, 2013

Legal links of interest for the week ending March 15, 2013 Friday, March 15, 2013 by Steven J. Getman, Esq. Attorney Steven Getman reports on some of the stories about courts, the law and lawyers in the news this past...more

When Food Production Leads to Prosecution

Over the last few weeks, two big stories have made headlines in the food industry. Beginning in early February, news media across Europe began reporting that food products tested in several European countries contained...more

WHISTLEBLOWER: WELLS FARGO FABRICATED AND ALTERED MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS ON A MASS BASIS

Thursday, March 7, 2013 WHISTLEBLOWER: WELLS FARGO FABRICATED AND ALTERED MORTGAGE DOCUMENTS ON A MASS BASIS Over the last two and a half years, Wells Fargo, like most of the major mortgage servicers, claimed that it had a...more

Was This Identity Theft? Sixth Circuit Should Limit Meaning of That Term

What’s in a name? When you think of identity theft, you typically think of someone taking a person’s name plus some other identifiers, like their address and Social Security number or credit card number, to go on a...more

FTC Remains Tough on ‘Robocalls’ with New Enforcement Case

Once again, the FTC has completed a major enforcement action against the illegal use of robocalls, a form of prerecorded, computerized telemarketing calls. This time, the action resulted in a $1.1 million civil penalty...more

Too Big to Exclude; Too Much Wrongdoing to Ignore

A 2007 audit initiated by a Medicare Program Safeguard Contractor (PSC) discovered that a North Carolina provider had a high incidence of inpatient billings for patients who did not stay in the hospital overnight. The PSC's...more

Steven Getman: Legal links of interest for the week ending January 25, 2013

Attorney Steven Getman reports on some of the stories about courts, the law and lawyers in the news this past week: • Court strikes down Obama recess appointments: The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that President...more

Sharon Bell v. Igal Feibush

Opinion -- California Court of Appeal Permits Treble Damages for Failure to Repay Loan

Court of Appeal affirmed trial court's determination that making a loan based on a false promise to repay amounted to theft by false pretense, and Penal Code 496 therefore applied, entitling the victim to recover treble...more