Leaked Memo: Show’s Mnuchin’s OneWest foreclosure practices, which was very questionable!

steven-mnuchin

The nominee for becoming Secretary of Treasury, the man who follows legislation and other close connected to business in the United States. Should be worrying how he has done his businesses in the past. The California courts and Attorney General tried in 2013 to create a case on the public filings of the OneWest bank and their Foreclosure practices, which got stifled by the possibility to hide liabilities through certain fixed laws that OneWest used.

OneWest did it to not get scrutiny and the Attorney General tried get them on the docket, but the working paper was the only one showing, together with what was collected from one County in the State of California. Steve Mnuchin knew about this very well, as he got the profits from the acts of malicious and defrauding citizens, using false pretence to buy properties and selling for subsidiaries.

This $2.4 billion figure should not be confused with the $2.3 billion that CIT Group received from the US Government under TARP in 2008. When CIT filed bankruptcy in 2009, the $2.3 billion became a free gift from taxpayers, never to be repaid. Total government subsidy between the two banks is almost $5 billion, yet both banks claim they are prepared to merge and become a Systemically Important Financial Institution if the proposed merger is approved by the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency”(CRC, 2015).

“Since March 2009, OneWest has foreclosed on approximately 35,000 California homes and initiated foreclosures of approximately 45,000 more. In April 2011, OneWest agreed to the Office of Thrift Supervision’s (OTS) entry of a Consent Order. The Order included findings that OneWest recorded documents that were not properly notarized, initiated non-judicial foreclosures without proper authority, failed to devote sufficient resources to ensure proper administration and oversight of its foreclosures process, and failed to sufficiently oversee vendors” (DOJ, P: 4, 2013).

“Finally, in the review of the 300 OneWest loan files obtained from LPS, we found that 21 files evidenced unlawful conduct by OneWest. Those 21 files (7 percent of those reviewed) contained falsely dated instruments executed by OneWest, substitutions of trustee in which OneWest falsely stated that it was beneficiary under an applicable deed of trust when it was not, or both. This unlawful conduct occurred throughout the state, concentrated primarily in Southern California. The 21 files related to homes in the nine following counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Placer, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Mateo, Santa Barbara and Ventura” (DOJ, P: 9, 2013).

“The Investigation has uncovered evidence of unlawful credit bidding, a type of misconduct that is not squarely addressed by either the National Mortgage Settlement or the Homeowner’s Bill of Rights. As detailed below, unlawful credit bidding occurs when a party other than the foreclosing beneficiary uses of the credit reflected by the deed of trust to take title to the home, when it is not legally entitled to do so. This means than other bidders at the auction (perhaps in some cases the borrowers and/or their families) are unfairly disadvantaged in the bidding process and that cities and counties throughout the state lost documentary transfer tax revenue” (DOJ, P: 11, 2013).

“OneWest undertook critical steps in the foreclosure process when it lacked the authority to do so. OneWest falsely asserted that its subsidiaries and the trustees for the mortgage-backed securities trusts had authority to conduct critical steps in the foreclosures process when they did not. This misconduct related to three common steps in the foreclosure process, each governed by statute: (1) credit bidding; (2) payment of or claim of exemption from documentary transfer tax; and (3) execution of SOTs” (DOJ, P: 18, 2013).

“To date, we have located five examples of such examples of such misconduct from public records, and we believe that many of the 86 examples of recorded substitutions of trustee (SOTs) executed in OneWest’s name bearing dates prior to date that OneWest began operations are likely to have been executed without authority (the entity purporting to sign them did not exist on the date the assignment purportedly took place). Similarly, in the review of 175 completed OneWest foreclosures in Alameda County, we found 10 unlawful substitutions of trustee” (DOJ, P: 20, 2013).

“In response, we will argue that: (1) it is undisputed that conflict preemption applies after July 2011; and (2) that complaint seeks to hold OneWest accountable for types of misconduct that were outside the scope of OTS’s claimed field preemtion because they involve criminal and civil code statutes which only incidentally affect the lending operations of federal savings associations” (DOJ, P: 23, 2013).

“We recommend that the Attorney General authorize use to file a civil enforcement against OneWest” (DOJ, P:26, 2013).

Complain files:

“OneWest also made false statements concerning its own status as beneficiary, as well as the beneficial status of others. These statements were made in a variety of contexts, including the context of the trustee’s sale bidding process and in the avoidance of transfer taxes” (County of Alameda, P: 4).

onewest-court-2012

This was only what we’re reported by two single reports earlier in the recent years, but there been questioning about the merger for OneWest with another Bank. Therefore the reality of their ways of foreclosure should have stopped and should have been looked into, as the malpractice for a quick profit. The profits of the OneWest bank we’re earned in a very disgraceful way:

“After foreclosing on almost 8,000 homes here in LA County, how can OneWest Bank say with a straight face that they’ve been a good community partner or that this merger is going to somehow help our communities?” Kinlaw said in a statement. “Foreclosing on families meant billions in profits for the billionaire owners of OneWest, but it came at the expense of families who were thrown out of their homes.” (…) “Stein said the coalition is composing a letter that will ask the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau , U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Justice to conduct a fair housing and fair lending investigation into OneWest’s lending practices” (Smith, 2015).

So there wasn’t only the Attorney General of California who knew there was malpractice and unlawful activity from the OneWest on their practices on the foreclosing of their properties to secure more funds. As they bought into funds with loans and defunct debt that could give the bank property as collateral and resell the properties for more profits, especially if they fixed the contracts and back-dates so the home-owners could be sealed off or resold in subsidiary of the OneWest.

So with the knowledge of these actions, these vulture capitalists shouldn’t be running the Administration. The Administration should make sure these men and woman doesn’t get power. Because their loose, laisses-faire economic regime might loosen the regulations and will lead to more quick profits, but hurt the bottom-line, the public! Trump Administration will favour possible vultures and people who do anything to earn bucks, with no concern of the outcome for the average families and the working-class, the ones that initially got them in power. That the ironic part is the ones that exhausted and gave way for the Administration is the ones that will suffer for the economic programmes from the coming term of presidency.

Steve Mnuchin has only been in business to get wealth, by any means; his business savvy way of OneWest proves the way of use all ways to gain profits. OneWest proves that they didn’t care about how they earned their profits on foreclosures, even if they twisted documents and their ways of buying titles. As long as this is known the vulture of Mnuschin should be known and not be put away in some chamber. Instead it should be questioned if he is fit to be Secretary of Treasury and be a part of the Administration at all! Peace.

2009-03-19-indymac-federal-bank-became-onewest-bank-blank

Reference:

California Reinvestment Coalition (CRC) – ‘Fact Sheet: OneWest Bank Expected to Receive Over $2.4 billion from the FDIC’ (12.04.2015)

State of California Vs OneWest, FSB, Federal Saving Bank and DOES – Complaint for Civil Penalties, Permanent Injunction, and other equitable relief – County of Alameda

Department of Justice – MoU: ‘Executive Summery – Request for Authorization File Action against OneWest Bank, FSB OneWest Investigation (SF2012105513) – 18.01.2013

Smith, Kevin – ‘Coalition seeks investigation of OneWest foreclosures’ (09.05.2015) link: http://www.sgvtribune.com/business/20150609/coalition-seeks-investigation-of-onewest-foreclosures

Opinion: A “Presidential Handshake” from Mzee is apparently a thing!

museveni-yoweri-701x466

“When men are pure, laws are useless; when men are corrupt, laws are broken.”

Benjamin Disraeli

Well, President Museveni is like himself, always. He doesn’t stutter or change codes overnight; he just continues the steady progress towards abomination of civil society and state institution, which seem more like his goal than actually making procedures and clear ways of actions for his civil servants. Why do I make this statement?

Well, Uganda Revenue Authority won a Markie case against the Oil Drilling Company Tullow/Heritage Oil who has rights to drill oil from the Lake Albert Basins and therefore is sanctioned and has to pay tax on their services and salaries to the Republic of Uganda. Something that is straight forward, but isn’t since the licence agreements and the drilling operations are kept in the dark of the society and citizens, cannot double check the agreement between them or the Memorandum of Understanding to comprehend the details that their operations on Ugandan soil entails.

Still, the recent revelations of cash bonanza and personal relief from the Consolidation Fund of the URA staff and former government employees show to the extent a President offering a token of appreciation for their work on winning the case and getting taxes back to the Republic for the foreign drilling company operation. So on the 25th January 2015 the URA wrote specifically to the Office of the President discussing the possibility of a reward. By November 2015, there arrived a letter where their Parliament could Post-Audit the Budgets to add the UGX6bn from the Consolidation Fund, this was a letter received by the Auditor General John Muwanga by the 2nd November 2016. So that today after the released letter of the bonuses we’re released online during the last 48 hours or so. The URA had to explain the matter of confidence between the President Museveni and their civil servants.

The Presidential Handshake that is so powerful to pay former staff and former government employees, even close knitted URA staffers who worked on the case, even Allen Kagina of UNRA got a decent slash fund from the pay-outs.

Prof Joe Oloka Onyango said in October 2016 this about the State House:

“In early 1980s, when this country was under the leadership of Godfrey Binaisa Lukongwa, State House was like a market place. Today, State House has been converted into an ATM” (Wesaka & Adengo, 2016).

Certainly the knowledge of these arrangements from the Revenue Authority wasn’t known, but a broke State House after an elections, says it all; together with the acts like an open-air bazar where all RDC and DPC got new fresh cars. Together with chiefs and others got good gifts. These together with the NRM Village Programme where they poured out dozens of shillings to each district and village as the ballots we’re soon getting dropped. This behind the scenes acts of URA we’re unknown.

So a “Presidential Handshake” that shows how little value accountability and transparency as the taxes that are back-paid are given as rewards, not paying for fixing schools, paying salaries of teachers and lectures, are not used for tarmac or other public needs. The monies are used to buy loyalty and given to silence them from turning against the President.

These acts counter the progression and even fair use of public funds, it’s a theft, a heist of grand proportions, in a way where the liabilities and righteous earned tax-funds can end up in the close knitted elite and staffers of URA instead of being used for the development of the Republic. This is maladministration and mismanagement of the Consolidation Fund and of the earnings made on the payback of the Tax to the Republic.

Certainly a handshake is now enough to get kickbacks from the Mzee, he is certainly an ATM where the stocks of loyalty get rewards and paid. Doesn’t matter how and about accountability, because it is only the citizens who loose, not the President himself! Peace.

Reference:

Wesaka, Anthony & Adengo, Jonathan – ‘State House turning into ATM, says Mak don’ (11.10.2016) link: http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/State-House—ATM–Mak-don-/688334-3411968-1155d8t/index.html

URA given a “Presidential Handshake” to dole out UGX6.bn on staff (05.01.2017)

ura-05-01-2017-p1ura-05-01-2017-p2

The Letter: 

oag-consolidated-fund-2016

Second letter:

presidential-handshake-2015

Transactions:

ug-free-money

 

RDC: M.P. Communique du 5. Janvier 2017

m-p-05-01-2017

AG Muwanga address mismanagement of public funds in the Local Government; staggering amount of funds that disappears!

ag-muwanga

I hope this does not boggle your mind. Bear in mind that the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) lots of scrutiny for paying bonuses on a Tax-Case against Tullow Oil Corporations. This has led to giant pay-out’s to fellow loyalists in the regime and in the civil service, and other who helped the arranged case that they won in favour of the URA and the NRM; so that AG Muwanga tells about bad practices in the districts and counties is not surprising. When I went through the local portfolios during the campaigning, there was usually funds not spend or even unaccounted in a dozens districts. That was last budget year, not the one mentioned from the AG this time around.

Therefore, here is his revelation in Parliament yesterday:

“Auditor General, John Muwanga, who presented the report to the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga at Parliament on January 4, 2017, said the accounting officers attributed the irregularities to challenges encountered during decentralization of salary payments on the Integrated Financial Management System and Integrated Personnel and Payment System. “Many of the accounting officers explained that they had initiated the process of recovering the overpaid amounts and training of staff to build capacity and address the challenges. I wait for evidence to that effect,” Muwanga stated in the report. At least 33 local governments are quoted to have procured items worth Shs 27.5 billion without following public procurement regulations and guidelines. Out of this, Shs 1.3 billion lacked procurement files; Shs 21.2 billion where there was breach of procurement procedures; Shs 4.6 billion involving inadequate contract management and Shs 315 million from unauthorized contract variations. About Shs 3.8 billion was identified as funds unaccounted for by the local governments. “I could not confirm that the funds were utilized for the intended purposes. The delayed submission of accountability may also lead to falsification of documents resulting into loss of funds”. On under collection of local revenue, 161 councils registered a shortfall in collection of revenue amounting to Shs 17.1 billion, majorly attributed to failure to carry out revenue enumeration and assessments, non-enforcement of contracts with private revenue collectors, understaffing and incomplete revenue records” (Parliament Watch Uganda, 04.01.2016).

If you wonder where it went, than the only ones knowing is the ones that was in charge of transactions and the ones actually taking the monies. The Public Coffers gotten looted without proper procedure for random trades. We can only imagine where the money went. Who used it and for what purpose is not easy to know, if it was buying a great car or house, even if it was paying a side-chick of a local mayor, we do not know. What we do know is that the money left the system without acknowledgement and without needed guidelines of the usage of the funds. That is worrying how easily billions can fly out of the coffers. Brown envelopes of funds easy spent on joy and needed supplies for the elected and public servants without any recites or valid reason for the use.

That this is clear indication of the practices and lacking moral of both central government and local government is certain. Certainly if the Central Government cared and the Local Government was worried of repercussions for their misbehaviour they would have acted otherwise and might even tried to payback the funds to the state. Instead, they used it without warning and might be wasted monies on luxury items during the election.

When the Local Government even with lacking of protocol extend their goodwill to forge documents to prove the valid use, you know the system is made wrong and need a recharge, there are certainly to many loose ends when they go to that extend to clean their wrong doings. Peace.

Lord Mayor Lukwago appoints members of KCCA Public Accountants Committee (19.12.2016)

kcca-des-2016

RDC: Interdiction de l’Importation de la viande de porc en provenance de la Belgique (03.01.2017)

drc-belgium-03-01-2017

Gambia: Clampdown feared after three radio stations closed (03.01.2017)

president-jammeh

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the arbitrary closure of three radio stations by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) just two weeks before President-elect Adama Barrow is due to take office if outgoing President Yahyah Jammeh finally decides to surrender power peacefully.

NIA officers visited the three stations – Hilltop Radio, Afri Radio and Teranga FM – on 1 January and verbally ordered them to stop broadcasting. They said the order came from their NIA superiors but they gave no reason for the decision and showed no official document.

Sources contacted by RSF said none of the three stations had broadcast content liable to upset the authorities in recent days. Hilltop Radio and Afri Radio are entertainment stations with no news programmes. Teranga FM used to broadcast press reviews in the Gambian vernacular until banned from continuing.

After Barrow, the opposition candidate, was declared the winner of the presidential election held on 1 December, most Banjul radio stations gave airtime to his jubilant supporters. President Jammeh initially accepted his defeat but later retracted and is now disputing the result.

Emil Touray, the head of the Gambia Press Union (GPU), said the closures represented the start of a major crackdown on freedom of expression. But the closures have not as yet had the expected result, inasmuch as several radio stations covered yesterday’s opposition news conference live.

“These arbitrary closures are extremely worrying just days ahead of an important date for Gambian democracy, and are part of a broader climate of attacks on democratic freedoms,” RSF editor-in-chief Virginie Dangles said. “We urge the authorities to reopen these stations at once and to stop clamping down on freedom of expression and information.”

Teranga FM was previously closed in 2012. Its manager, Alagie Ceesay, was arrested in July 2015 for circulating a photo critical of President Jammeh. His health deteriorated after several months in prison and he was transferred to a hospital, from which he managed to escape. He now lives in hiding.

President Jammeh, who is on RSF’s list of press freedom predators, has ruled Gambia since 1994, imposing a climate of fear that permeates all levels of society and forces journalists to censor themselves if they want to continue working.

The murder of RSF correspondent Deyda Hydara, who was shot dead at the wheel of his car in Banjul in 2004, has never been solved. Another journalist, Chief Ebrimah Manneh, disappeared while in detention in 2006. The authorities continue to deny that they were holding him.

Since Jammeh’s retraction of his initial acceptance of Barrow’s victory, observers fear an increase in repressive measures in the run-up to the date when Barrow is scheduled to be sworn in as the new president.

Gambia is ranked 145th out of 180 countries in RSF’s 2016 World Press Freedom Index.

Moise Katumbi: Declaration suite a l’accord politique du 31 decembre 2016 (03.01.2017)

moise-katumbi-03-01-2017-p1moise-katumbi-03-01-2017-p2