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Non-Tech : Bill Wexler's Trading Cabana -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	3/15/2007 6:27:41 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 6370

So,... if it is fraud and the insurer rightly rejects liabities, then >someone< has to foot the bill. Who is it? Which institution has the largest exposure. (as a matter of fact many loans with insufficient / lacking documentation are prone to fraudulent behaviour. "Alt-A" do you hear me?) FPDs are a direct result of fraudulent behavior. bubbletracking.blogspot.com Greed, Greed, Greed... Fraud, Fraud, Fraud... and Stupid is as Stupid does. These are what this housing bubble is all about. And these are what this flipper in trouble is all about. Greed is purchasing a 2,631 sqft with $849,000 you don't have. Fraud is refinancing that $849,000 and not making a single payment. Stupid is wasting time with a $1.15 million, or $437/sqft price tag for 5 months. Stupid is insisting on $1 million, or $380/sqft despite a pending auction date. Stupid is chasing the market down and losing out on a potential sale to the next door neighbor who sold for a $315/sqft price tag. Greed, Fraud, and Stupidity, that is what is all about!

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	1/29/2008 5:48:48 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 6370

AP FBI Is Probing 14 Companies Over Loans Tuesday January 29, 5:43 pm ET By The Associated Press FBI Says 14 Companies Under Investigation for Possible Fraud in Connection With Subprime Loans WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday said it is investigating 14 companies for possible fraud or insider trading violations in connection with loans made to risky borrowers, and investments spun off of those loans. Agency officials did not identify the companies under investigation but said the wide-ranging probe, which began in spring 2007, is ongoing and involves companies across the industry, from mortgage lenders to financial firms that bundle home loans into securities sold to investors. The FBI is working in conjunction with the Securities and Exchange Commission, said Neil Power, chief of the FBI's economic crimes unit in Washington.

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	2/29/2008 4:47:37 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 6370

Force Protection Announces Delay in 2007 Form 10-K and Required Restatement of Form 10-Q for the Period Ended September 30, 2007 Friday February 29, 4:05 pm ET LADSON, S.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Force Protection, Inc. (NASDAQ:FRPT - News) today announced that it will delay the filing of its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007. The Company intends to file its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007 with the SEC promptly upon the completion of the audit of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 2007. Force Protection today also announced that the Company’s Audit Committee concluded that the Company will restate its previously reported interim financial statements for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2007. The Company will file a Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission with regard to this restatement decision. The Company reached the conclusion to restate based upon the recommendation of management and the concurrence of the Audit Committee of the Company’s Board of Directors. The Company also discussed the matters related to the restatement with Elliott Davis, LLC, the Company’s current independent registered public accounting firm. Therefore, the previously issued financial statements of the Company for the third quarter of 2007 filed on a Form 10-Q on November 13, 2007 should no longer be relied upon. Management discovered significant accounting errors during its year end review, including errors specifically related to the recording of accounts payable related to inventory purchased from a sub-contractor as a result of a contract termination.

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	6/22/2008 5:49:16 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 6370

And boy...was there a lot of mortgage fraud. Indeed: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Thursday, June 19, 2008 WWW.USDOJ.GOVODAG (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 More Than 400 Defendants Charged for Roles in Mortgage Fraud Schemes as Part of Operation “Malicious Mortgage” Two Senior Managers of Failed Bear Stearns Hedge Funds Indicted Today in Separate Mortgage-Related Securities Fraud Case WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) announced today a national takedown of mortgage fraud schemes, the culmination of substantial coordinated efforts during the last three and a half months to identify, arrest and prosecute mortgage fraud violators through the United States. Operation Malicious Mortgage highlights the strong enforcement response undertaken by the Department of Justice and its law enforcement partners to combat the threat mortgage fraud poses to the U.S. housing industry and worldwide credit markets. Operation Malicious Mortgage is a concerted, joint law enforcement and prosecutorial effort aimed at disrupting individuals and groups engaged in mortgage fraud," said FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III. "This operation is an example of our unified commitment to address this significant crime problem. The FBI will continue to direct investigative and analytic resources towards mortgage fraud and corporate securities fraud that threaten our nation’s economy." Operation Malicious Mortgage represents the joint collaborative efforts of the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Trustee Program, Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of the Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs Office of the Inspector General, and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of the Inspector General. Operation Malicious Mortgage is the most recent coordinated sweep in an ongoing law enforcement effort to combat mortgage fraud, which also included Operation Continued Action in 2004 and Operation Quick Flip in 2005. Mortgage frauds employ a variety of tactics including misrepresentations, deceit and other criminal abuses to fund, purchase or insure mortgage loans. Operation Malicious Mortgage addresses primarily three types of mortgage fraud schemes: lending fraud, foreclosure rescue scams and mortgage-related bankruptcy schemes. Lending fraud frequently involves multiple loan transactions in which industry professionals construct mortgage transactions based on gross fraudulent misrepresentations about the borrower’s financial status, such as overstating the borrower’s income or assets, using false or fictitious employment records or inflating property values. Foreclosure rescue scams involve criminals who target legitimate homeowners in dire financial circumstances and fraudulently collect fees for foreclosure prevention services or obtain ownership interests in residential properties. Both of these fraudulent mortgage schemes may be furthered by filing bankruptcy petitions that automatically stay foreclosure. usdoj.gov

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	7/20/2008 6:33:21 PM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 6370

Here is a stunning account of stupidity, and fraud... to good to pass, Message 24774666 A criminal crew found a house, bought it for $140,000, and then resold it to a straw buyer for way more than it was worth - $220,000. To get a mortgage, the buyer used an appraisal for an entirely different, and much more valuable, property. "The broker, buyer, appraiser, and realtor all conspired to perpetrate this fraud," said Bitner. Indeed, just about all the documentation was falsified. The group collected the $220,000, and, minus their $140,000 outlay, disappeared with $80,000. Kellner Mortgage wasn't aware of any problem until the investor that bought the loan set about investigating when it went unpaid. The investor sent Kellner a letter detailing the ruse and demanding that Bitner's firm make good on the loan. Said Bitner, "You read through this letter and you see that the income statement was phony and the appraisal was on another house and you say to yourself, 'Am I a moron?'" That cost the company about $100,000.

To: Bill Wexler who wrote (1787)	7/22/2009 2:25:47 AM
From: RockyBalboa	Respond to of 6370

>> heraldtribune.com The Herald-Tribune spent a year gathering and reviewing nearly 19 million Florida real estate transactions for red flags that can help identify flipping fraud. Using public records, including land deeds and mortgage filings, it found that: • Since 2000, more than 50,000 Florida properties flipped under circumstances that fraud investigators identify as suspicious -- where homes, vacant land or commercial properties were bought and resold in 90 days or less and increased in value by at least 30 percent. Even during the hottest days of the housing boom, average home prices increased at half that rate. More than a dozen fraud experts interviewed by the Herald-Tribune said such large price increases within 90 days are an indicator of fraud. • In June 2005, when flipping hit its peak, more than 2 percent of all Florida real estate sales fit the criteria for potential fraud. • Many of the questionable flip deals were orchestrated by real estate professionals. A close review of several thousand flips in Sarasota and Manatee counties showed that 40 percent of the flippers were industry insiders -- real estate agents, mortgage brokers and attorneys. • Lenders facilitated fraud by approving mortgages on suspicious transactions. In deal after deal, loan officers either failed to make the most basic checks to flag risky loans or ignored what they found. In some cases, the Herald-Tribune found, bank employees knew deals were suspect but approved mortgages anyway. • Lenders continued to finance flips even after the boom, when property values were declining and price increases should have raised suspicion. Across Florida, more than 10,000 flips involving significant price increases occurred from 2006 to 2008 -- after the market peaked in the second half of 2005. In 2007 alone, nearly $1 billion in suspicious flip deals took place. The actual amount of fraudulent land deals in Florida is likely more than $10 billion, according to several fraud experts, who believe the newspaper's findings are understated. While some of the 50,000 deals identified by the Herald-Tribune may be legitimate, many more fraudulent deals were not counted because they involved smaller price increases or took place over longer periods, said Bill Black, a University of Missouri economics professor and bank fraud expert who helped the World Bank develop anti-corruption initiatives. "It isn't even close to the bare minimum," Black said. "You have been so conservative in your technique. Just in the world of flipping fraud, it's many times that number." Quick property flips accompanied by price increases have long been used as an indicator of fraud.