J.P. Morgan Accused of Fraud...

[Indi Guy]

Source: Wall Street Journal

New York's top prosecutor filed a civil complaint against J.P. Morgan JPM +1.21% Chase Co., alleging widespread fraud in the sale of mortgage-backed securities in the run-up to the financial crisis.

Eric Schneiderman, New York's attorney general, filed the civil lawsuit in New York state court Monday. The case is the first brought under the aegis of a law enforcement group that was formed by President Barack Obama in January to pursue alleged wrongdoing related to the financial crisis.

More cases from the group are expected to follow.

"We intend to follow up with similar actions against other sponsors and underwriters of RMBS," said an official in the attorney general's office...

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390444138104578030903731665328.html

[truthisfreedom]

1. Finally, some tangible action taken.

And just in time for the election, too!

[wordpix]

2. at long last! Go, Schneiderman

[yends21012]

3. At last

It looks like all of the illegal or shady activities are unraveling and coming to light. It should be an interesting year coming up.

[Indi Guy]

4. Rest of story...

...The allegations relate to billions of dollars of subprime securities issued by Bear Stearns Cos. before the troubled firm, now owned by J.P.Morgan, collapsed in 2008. The suit alleges that losses on residential-mortgage securities issued by Bear Stearns in 2006 and 2007 alone were "astounding," totaling $22.5 billion, or more than a quarter of the original principal balance. The action asks that the company be made to pay an undisclosed amount of damages "caused, directly or indirectly, by the fraudulent and deceptive acts."

J.P. Morgan spokesman Joseph Evangelisti said the bank intends to contest the allegations, and that it is "disappointed" the attorney general "decided to pursue its civil action without ever offering us an opportunity to rebut the claims."

[Lasher]

6. This will provide little or no deterrent if only companies are made to pay.

What we need is criminal penalties against individuals.

[cstanleytech]

12. Agreed. nt

[Live and Learn]

13. Exactly. How can we justify locking up people for theft

when they have stolen only a fraction of the money these guys have? Either throw open the prison doors or lock these thieves up too.

[Indi Guy]

25. Well, even better (because this is a civil suit)...

...How about seeking damages in amounts commensurate with the theft.

[Live and Learn]

27. Not enough. The point is that

us 'lessor' people are locked up for much less. Allowing those that can afford to pay to escape imprisonment and all the hardship it causes afterward is not justice.

[Indi Guy]

31. I know what you mean but...

...as long as Wall St. owns our lawmakers/enforcers - the white collar crooks will enjoy a double standard of justice.

[hughee99]

20. A good story just before the election,

but not much will come of it. Maybe J.P. Morgan will have to pay a fine, but no one at J.P. Morgan will see the inside of a jail because this is from the Bear Stearns days.

I wonder if the J.P. Morgan lawyers will argue that they wouldn't even own Bear Stearns if it weren't for US Government assistance so the Government is partly responsible. (about $29 Billion in a government non-recourse loans direct to Bear backed by mortgage debt, that means J.P. Morgan isn't on the hook to repay it of the mortgage collateral isn't enough to repay it)

[aquart]

26. People at Bear didn't go to jail. But...

The lowlife assholes they used to squeeze the settlement out of Bear Stearns spent years not owning their own souls as they traded testimony for early freedom.

[underpants]

5. Uh hem -- wthin 24 hours not 4 years....oh this is just more evidence of what we already knew ...

Looting Main Street

By Matt Taibbi

March 31, 2010

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-main-street-20100331

[KoKo]

11. US biggest banks ripped off American cities with same predatory deals that brought down Greece!

}How the nation's biggest banks are ripping off American cities with the same predatory deals that brought down Greece"

Matt Taibbi

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/looting-main-street-20100331#ixzz286FHXtBZ

[truedelphi]

17. Thanks for the link to Taibbi. n/t

[dreampunk]

7. Finally dumped my AARP Chase/JP Morgan Visa

and got a much better deal on a visa from my local LOCAL credit union. We should ALL have done this back in '08!

[truedelphi]

18. Well better late than never, and

Glad to hear you got such a good deal from the local CU..

[Amonester]

8. ... will (or may...) only get...

'chump change' penalties, and the 'guys, guys, guys... don't you evah doowit aggggin otay?' menace

[tridim]

9. I was just notified by the state AG that I'll be getting a settlement. FU JPM Chase.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. I hope you get a HUGE settlement.

Fuck the bastards x 100...

[tridim]

28. Well I already know it's not going to be huge.

But I deserve something for the hell they put me through. In a weird way the settlement will replace the apology I never got from them.

I do know that Chase did several illegal things with my mortgage. If I were rich I could pursue that legally, but unfortunately I'm not. The settlement is my only option.

[Indi Guy]

29. Too bad that we can only get as much justice as we can afford these days...

If you don't mind the asking -- what kind of things did Chase pull with your loan?

[tridim]

32. Chase "bought" my mortgage for zero dollars from WAMU...

and sold it to Fannie without telling a soul. They filed no paperwork with the county as required by law. There is no legal record of either sale.

They essentially turned my free mortgage into cash at taxpayer expense.

[dixiegrrrrl]

30. IIRC the settlement does not bar you from suing them?

The trick would be to find a lawyer to take on a suit. I know there are lawyers who do so, no money upfront.
And I know there are several class actions lawsuits.

[tridim]

33. I think I've talked about this with you before..

Nobody would take the case because it was against a TBTF bank.

I'm working now, so I could probably afford some basic legal services. I'd need tens of thousands of dollars to even get started.

[Indi Guy]

34. As I alluded to earlier...

...too bad you can't afford more justice. If I had the resources I'd sue the pants off of them just for the satisfaction of exposing the dirty dealings at Chase & their like.

[DeSwiss]

10. Yay.

- Just let me know when these bastards are being frog-marched to prison in orange jumpsuits. Then I'll believe it......



K&R

[Bozita]

14. I wanna see some frogmarching and some criminal trials and a whole lotta clawbacks.

From the replies above, I know I'm not alone.

[just1voice]

15. Yep, they create the fraudulent bonds and the FED buys 'em!

It's called "quantitative easing 3" by our corrupt government.

[Jack Rabbit]

16. It's a civil suit

Too bad. I want to see Diamond Jamie go up the river.

[lonestarnot]

21. Is this something with some teeth or action in futility?

I hope the hell something sticks!

[kat22]

22. power

Their energy division has also run afoul of FERC and independent system operator in California for blatantly refusing to cooperate with the investigators. FERC can fine them one million $ per day while the case is pending.

[99th_Monkey]

23. Link to NYTimes story here.

Schneiderman is going there. Very cool.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/business/suit-accuses-jpmorgan-unit-of-broad-misconduct-on-mortgage-securities.html?_r=0

[olddad56]

24. an investment banker committing fraud? Get out.

[Tippy]

35. About time...