Finance & Banking › Criminal Law › Civil Remedies

New Justice Department's FIRREA Cases Against Banks: Holding The Victim Responsible

The government’s ever-evolving response to the United States financial crisis has come full circle, as civil Justice Department Attorneys seek to rely on legislation enacted to protect financial institutions from fraud to sue...more

Wartime Suspension Of Limitations Act Suspends Statute Of Limitations In False Claims Act Cases

The False Claims Act (FCA), which allows both the government and whistleblowers to seek treble damages for claims of civil fraud on the United States, is a powerful tool. In the past two years, the government has aggressively...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

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

What’s at the Bottom of the ‘Robosigning’ Scandal?

The problematic practice of robosigning – whereby banks and other lenders improperly foreclosed on properties through formulaically processing foreclosure documents – has been much in the news over the past couple of years....more

The Importance Of Anti-Corruption Compliance Remediation

When you catch someone (e.g. a child, friend or business associate) in the wrong, it is interesting to watch their reactions. (Notice I left out spouse or relationship partner – we all know our spouse or relationship partner...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

Internal Investigation Fees Awarded To Goldman Sachs

On Monday, February 25, Goldman Sachs won its bid to force former director Rajat K. Gupta to pay legal fees it incurred while investigating Gupta’s insider trading activities. In October 2012, Gupta was sentenced to two years...more

CFTC Charges Agape Entities With Futures Trading Scheme

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has charged Agape World, Inc. and Agape Merchant Advance with defrauding customers of tens of millions of dollars in a commodity futures trading scheme. The CFTC’s press...more

DocX Shutdown Part of $35M ‘Robosigning’ Fraud Settlement

The Department of Justice on Feb. 15 announced a $35 million settlement with Lender Processing Services (LPS) subsidiary DocX, stemming from the so-called “robosigning” scandal of 2010. DocX was in the business of...more

New U.S. Laws Criminalize Theft of Quantitative Trading and Investment Models and Other Trade Secrets and Dramatically Increase...

Introduction - The U.S. Congress recently passed two laws that raise the stakes dramatically for employees of financial services firms and anyone else who misappropriates trade secrets, including source code and other...more

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

Reps. Darrell E. Issa and Elijah E. Cummings, joint letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Comptroller of the...

House Oversight Committee Requests Briefing on Potential Independent Foreclosure Review Process Settlement Washington, DC (Jan. 5, 2013) The Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Committee on Oversight and...more

Bank Agrees to Reimburse Company for Funds Taken Through Online Bank Account Theft

We reported in July on a First Circuit Court of Appeals decision finding that a bank failed to implement commercially reasonable security methods to prevent unauthorized transfers by a criminal that gained the online banking...more

Eleventh Circuit Holds Bank Security Procedure Insufficient to Provide Safe Harbor from Liability for Fraudulent Wire Transfer

On November 27, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit held that a bank may be liable for an allegedly fraudulent in-person wire transfer because it failed to implement a commercially reasonable security procedure...more

STATE OF MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL SCHUETTE FILES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST FORMER MORTGAGE PROCESSOR PRESIDENT FOR ROLE IN...

STATE OF MICHIGAN ATTORNEY GENERAL BILL SCHUETTE FILES CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST FORMER MORTGAGE PROCESSOR PRESIDENT FOR ROLE IN FRAUDULENT...more

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN vs. LORRAINE OREILLY BROWN

FELONY COMPLAINT AGAINST LORRAINE OREILLY BROWN RE: DOCX & ROBO-SIGNING

Lorraine Brown established and orchestrated a widespread scheme of robo-signing and was associated with an enterprise, to wit DOCX. ...more

CFPB and FTC: Warning Letters - Misleading Advertisements

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), in coordination with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), has issued warning letters to twelve mortgage lenders and mortgage brokers advising them to remove or revise misleading...more

United States Department of Justice Press Release Re: Former Executive at Florida-Based Lender Processing Services Inc. Admits...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2012/November/12-crm-1400.html Tuesday, November 20, 2012 Former Executive at Florida-Based Lender Processing Services Inc. Admits Role in Mortgage-Related Document...more

CFPB: Compliance Management System

On October 31, 2012, the CFPB issued its first issue of Supervisory Highlights: Fall 2012, a newsletter to the public and the financial services industry about its examination program, including the concerns that it finds...more

FinCEN: SAR Narrative, PowerPoint, and Mortgage Loan Fraud

On September 18, 2012 FinCEN held an Informational Webinar regarding the new FinCEN Suspicious Activity Report (SAR). The corresponding, full PowerPoint presentation of the recorded version of this Webinar is available...more

United States of America vs. Bank of America et al

United States of America vs. Bank of America et al Re: Complaint for Mortgage Fraud

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Sues Bank Of America For Over $1 Billion For Multi-Year Mortgage Fraud Against Government Sponsored Entities Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Wednesday, October 24, 2012 After...more

ROBERT LOCKETT vs. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.

Robert Lockett Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders Complaint for Notary Public Fraud With Expert Opinion Declaration

Homeowner Complaint Summary: I am a victim of fraud and I am attaching pdf files which includes an Assignment of a Deed of Trust that was recorded with the Los Angeles Register Recorders office on August 29, 2011 under...more

ROBERT LOCKETT vs. BANK OF AMERICA, N.A.

Robert Lockett Los Angeles County Registrar Recorders Complaint for Document Fraud With Expert Opinion Declaration

Homeowner Complaint Summary: I am a victim of fraud and I am attaching pdf files which includes an Assignment of a Deed of Trust that was recorded with the Los Angeles Register Recorders office on August 29, 2011 under...more

Barry Fagan Launches Administrative Counter Attack Posted by Neil Garfield Living Lies

Barry Fagan Launches Administrative Counter Attack http://livinglies.wordpress.com/2012/10/11/barry-fagan-launches-administrative-counter-attack/ Posted on October 11, 2012 by Neil Garfield Editor’s Comment: Barry...more