A friend of mine notes the wave of fraudulent foreclosures, foreclosures where firms simply faked the paperwork needed to prove they have standing to foreclose (that they actually own the mortgage.) There have been some moves to stem the fraud, not the least of which is by Florida’s Attorney General Bill McCollum, but those who appear to be the worst offenders are firing back, going after him and other judges who have thrown out cases.
This is a logical consequence of refusing to go after banksters for fraud. The fraud was so systemic (the majority of CDOs based on housing) that virtually every major executive was involved. The DOJ and others chose not to prosecute criminally, and as a result the message was sent that the executive class, as a group, will not be prosecuted for fraud.
So, of course, they doubled down.
During the S&L crisis, thousands of bank executives went to prison. Yet in this much worse and even more obviously criminal crisis, there have been virtually no criminal indictments. The firms get a slap on the wrist fine. None of those responsible are punished. And in this, Obama is as equally culpable as Bush. The fix, it seems, is in at a very high level indeed.
B of A joins JPMorgan and ally in admitting it never validated foreclosure docs