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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsProPublica: Whistleblower: Wall Street Has Engaged in Widespread Manipulation of Mortgage Funds
Securities that contain loans for properties like hotels and office buildings have inflated profits, the whistleblower claims. As the pandemic hammers the economy, that could increase the chances of another mortgage collapse.
by Heather Vogell May 15, 7 a.m. EDT
Among the toxic contributors to the financial crisis of 2008, few caused as much havoc as mortgages with dodgy numbers and inflated values. Huge quantities of them were assembled into securities that crashed and burned, damaging homeowners and investors alike. Afterward, reforms were promised. Never again, regulators vowed, would real estate financiers be able to fudge numbers and threaten the entire economy.
Twelve years later, theres evidence something similar is happening again.
Some of the worlds biggest banks including Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as well as other lenders have engaged in a systematic fraud that allowed them to award borrowers bigger loans than were supported by their true financials, according to a previously unreported whistleblower complaint submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission last year.
Whereas the fraud during the last crisis was in residential mortgages, the complaint claims this time its happening in commercial properties like office buildings, apartment complexes and retail centers. The complaint focuses on the loans that are gathered into pools whose worth can exceed $1 billion and turned into bonds sold to investors, known as CMBS (for commercial mortgage-backed securities).
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This is what happens when you let criminals get away with their crimes. They just keep crimin'.
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gibraltar72
(7,499 posts)stillcool
(32,626 posts)ask Donald.
bucolic_frolic
(43,064 posts)Anyone who figures out how to make bank on empty retail space - apts, COVID testing centers?
jaxexpat
(6,804 posts)with hedges on Goodwill Stores futures
csziggy
(34,131 posts)It's in the middle of a stretch of stip malls, most of which have been full for years. This one has sat totally empty for nearly ten years. Maintenance goes on - the windows are all clean, everything looks well kept, but not one business has ever moved in.
It's very strange - I decided it must be some kind of boondoggle since there are no longer signs up offering leases for the spaces.
bucolic_frolic
(43,064 posts)Growth businesses are not always in the game to make profits. Maximizing tax deductions is even better.
csziggy
(34,131 posts)I guess my mind is just not twisty enough.
Response to Dennis Donovan (Original post)
AllaN01Bear This message was self-deleted by its author.
DanieRains
(4,619 posts)Only a few people notice this fact.
SWBTATTReg
(22,077 posts)2008 recession (stock market/real estate crashes) and yet again, here they are, doing the same damn thing.
AllaN01Bear
(18,016 posts)Mersky
(4,980 posts)23, 27, 30% upward revisions in historical profits? Whoa, this is fraud.
No bank bailouts without real consequences. Those cooking the books need to serve jail time.
DallasNE
(7,402 posts)The Supreme Court authorized and thus insured corruption would follow with that decision. Dark money easily corrupted the regulatory intent. Cash rules.
diva77
(7,629 posts)uponit7771
(90,304 posts)... the on Thursday.
Yep, propped
aggiesal
(8,907 posts)The building, One Penn Center, is a historic Art Deco office high-rise with ornate black marble and gold-plated fixtures, and a transit station underneath. One of the primary tenants, leasing 45,000 square feet for one of its regional headquarters, happens to be the SEC. The agency declined to comment.
We (SEC) won't investigate these inflated income numbers, if you give us 45,000 sq ft in One Penn Center.
Of course we'll decline to comment.