SIGTARP Special Agent Contacts ANONYMOUS: Plans to Investigate Bank of America for HAMP Fraud
Another look at this story from earlier this Spring.
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This morning, Anonymous / OperationLeakS posted an email sent to them from a SIGTARP special agent asking for more information about BofA, particularly any information related to fraud connected with HAMP, Treasury's program for homeowners who get behind on their mortgage payments.
As we wrote yesterday, the emails from between OperationLeakS and the BofA leaker don't in themselves prove any wrongdoing, but they seem to indicate that the leaker does possess information about fraudulent handling of documents and insurance payments. Intentionally losing track of payments and paperwork has been linked in many cases to force-placed insurance scams, but such errors could equally be relevant to cases where banks or servicers have gamed the HAMP program.
If there is in fact wrongdoing related to HAMP, any investigation by SIGTARP should uncover information directly relevant to force-placed insurance fraud, and possibly information relevant to the ongoing MERS fiasco. In any case, SIGTARP's approach to information held by Anonymous and/or Wikileaks serves as a constructive contrast to the approach taken by the Department of Justice.
The email:
- "I am a Special Agent with TARP and investigate HAMP violations. I am interested in learning more about the information you possess relative to B of A. Are you in the New York area? XXXX Special Agent, Special IG for Troubled Assets Relief Program"
ANONYMOUS operates the following website:
Further Reading...
Aug 22, 2011 at 2:04 AM
Reader Comments (12)
http://www.activistpost.com/2011/03/us-house-approves-3-week-spending-bill.html
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/falling-us-housing-starts-close-in-on-record-low-2011-03-16
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GDP forecasts cut after housing data
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gdp-forecasts-cut-after-housing-data-2011-03-16
Food posts biggest monthly increase since 1974
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-wholesale-prices-up-16-in-february-2011-03-16
Japan battles to contain nuclear crisis
Blaze is latest blow to strike crippled Fukushima nuclear plant
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-fire-breaks-out-at-japan-nuclear-plant-2011-03-15
http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/company-news/the-first-bank-of-america-document-leak-force-placed-insurance/19878237/
Also, check out the comments. Borrowers and a foreclosure lawyer give examples of the very sort of insurance fraud the BofA leak talks about. Why aren't prosecutors and state AG's talking to this guy already?
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/17/us-banks-libor-probe-idUSTRE72G0X020110317
[snip]
Bank of America, Citigroup, Barclays, WestLB and UBS are being investigated by regulators in the United States, Britain and Japan, the source said, who asked not to be named....
... Barclays, WestLB and Bank of America would not comment and Citi could not be reached.
Regulators are investigating the setting of dollar Libor prices in 2007 and 2008, just before and during the financial crisis.
The British Bankers' Association (BBA) sets Libor prices each day, providing a benchmark that reflects the interest rates being used by the world's major lenders.