GoFuckYourself.com - Adult Webmaster Forum - View Single Post - fraud @ countrywide yet no arrests have ever been made

crockett · 12-05-2011, 01:43 PM

If it was some guy stealing a bag of potato chips he's probably get 3 years.. Yet company wide fraud that helped cause the collapse of this countries housing markets as well as banks going under and the country's credit rating being dropped but no one gets charged with anything.

a bit from the 60 minutes investigation..

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_16...ctionContent.0

Kroft: How much fraud was there at Countrywide?

Foster: From what I saw, the types of things I saw, it was-- it appeared systemic. It, it wasn't just one individual or two or three individuals, it was branches of individuals, it was regions of individuals.

Kroft: What you seem to be saying was it was just a way of doing business?

Foster: Yes.

In 2007, Foster sent a team to the Boston area to search several branch offices of Countrywide's subprime division - the division that lent to borrowers with poor credit. The investigators rummaged through the office's recycling bins and found evidence that Countrywide loan officers were forging and manipulating borrowers' income and asset statements to help them get loans they weren't qualified for and couldn't afford.

Foster: All of the-- the recycle bins, whenever we looked through those they were full of, you know, signatures that had been cut off of one document and put onto another and then photocopied, you know, or faxed and then the-- you know, the creation thrown-- thrown in the recycle bin.

Kroft: And the incentive for the people at Countrywide to do that was what?

Foster: The loan officers received bonuses, commissions. They were compensated regardless of the quality of the loan. There's no incentive for quality. The incentive was to fund the loan. And that's-- that's gonna drive that type of behavior.

Kroft: They were committing a crime?

Foster: Yes.

further on to show Bank of America was also in on trying to cover it all up..

Foster, with the support of her boss, took the information up the corporate chain of command and to the audit department, which confirmed many of her suspicions, but no action was taken. In late 2008, with Countrywide sinking under the weight of its bad loans, it merged with Bank of America. Foster was promoted and not long afterwards was asked to speak with government regulators to discuss Countrywide's fraud reports. But she was fired before the meeting could take place.

Kroft: What would you have told 'em?

Foster: I would have told 'em exactly-- exactly what I've told you.

Kroft: Did you have any discussions with anybody at Countrywide or Bank of America about what you should say to the federal regulators when they came?

Foster: I got a call from an individual who, you know, suggested how-- how I should handle the questions that would be coming from the regulators, made some suggestions that downplayed the severity of the situation.

Kroft: They wanted you to spin it and you said you wouldn't?

Foster: Uh-huh (affirm).

Kroft: And the next day you were terminated?

Foster: Uh-huh (affirm).

Kroft: I mean, it seems like somebody at Countrywide or Bank of America did not want you to talk to federal regulators.

Foster: No, that was part of it, no, they absolutely did not.

12-05-2011, 01:43 PM
crockett in a van by the river Industry Role: Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 76,806	fraud @ countrywide yet no arrests have ever been made If it was some guy stealing a bag of potato chips he's probably get 3 years.. Yet company wide fraud that helped cause the collapse of this countries housing markets as well as banks going under and the country's credit rating being dropped but no one gets charged with anything. a bit from the 60 minutes investigation.. http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_16...ctionContent.0 Kroft: How much fraud was there at Countrywide? Foster: From what I saw, the types of things I saw, it was-- it appeared systemic. It, it wasn't just one individual or two or three individuals, it was branches of individuals, it was regions of individuals. Kroft: What you seem to be saying was it was just a way of doing business? Foster: Yes. In 2007, Foster sent a team to the Boston area to search several branch offices of Countrywide's subprime division - the division that lent to borrowers with poor credit. The investigators rummaged through the office's recycling bins and found evidence that Countrywide loan officers were forging and manipulating borrowers' income and asset statements to help them get loans they weren't qualified for and couldn't afford. Foster: All of the-- the recycle bins, whenever we looked through those they were full of, you know, signatures that had been cut off of one document and put onto another and then photocopied, you know, or faxed and then the-- you know, the creation thrown-- thrown in the recycle bin. Kroft: And the incentive for the people at Countrywide to do that was what? Foster: The loan officers received bonuses, commissions. They were compensated regardless of the quality of the loan. There's no incentive for quality. The incentive was to fund the loan. And that's-- that's gonna drive that type of behavior. Kroft: They were committing a crime? Foster: Yes. further on to show Bank of America was also in on trying to cover it all up.. Foster, with the support of her boss, took the information up the corporate chain of command and to the audit department, which confirmed many of her suspicions, but no action was taken. In late 2008, with Countrywide sinking under the weight of its bad loans, it merged with Bank of America. Foster was promoted and not long afterwards was asked to speak with government regulators to discuss Countrywide's fraud reports. But she was fired before the meeting could take place. Kroft: What would you have told 'em? Foster: I would have told 'em exactly-- exactly what I've told you. Kroft: Did you have any discussions with anybody at Countrywide or Bank of America about what you should say to the federal regulators when they came? Foster: I got a call from an individual who, you know, suggested how-- how I should handle the questions that would be coming from the regulators, made some suggestions that downplayed the severity of the situation. Kroft: They wanted you to spin it and you said you wouldn't? Foster: Uh-huh (affirm). Kroft: And the next day you were terminated? Foster: Uh-huh (affirm). Kroft: I mean, it seems like somebody at Countrywide or Bank of America did not want you to talk to federal regulators. Foster: No, that was part of it, no, they absolutely did not. Last edited by crockett; 12-05-2011 at 01:50 PM..