Welcome to Inner City Press’ Bank Beat. We aim to scrutinize the industry, from high to low. Our other Reporters cover Community Reinvestment, the Federal Reserve, and other beats. ICP has published a (double) book about the Bank Beat-relevant topic of predatory lending - click here for sample chapters, an interactive map, and ordering information. The Washington Post of March 15, 2004, calls Predatory Bender: America in the Aughts "the first novel about predatory lending;" the London Times of April 15, 2004, "A Novel Approach," said it "has a cast of colorful characters." See also, "City Lit: Roman a Klepto [Review of 'Predatory Bender']," by Matt Pacenza, City Limits, Sept.-Oct. 2004. The Pittsburgh City Paper says the 100-page afterword makes the "indispensable point that predatory lending is now being aggressively exported to the rest of the globe." Click here for that review; click here to Search This Site. Click here for Inner City Press' weekday news reports, from the United Nations and elsewhere, which include bank-related topics.
Click here for Inner City Press' weekday news reports, from the United Nations and elsewhere. Click here for a recent BBC piece on Inner City Press' reporting from the United Nations. New: Follow us on TWITTER BloggingHeads.tv Click for March 1, 2011 BloggingHeads.tv re Libya, Sri Lanka, UN Corruption by Inner City Press. Until next time, for or with more information, contact us.
January
30, 2023
In Suit Against Cairo Amman Bank For Hamas Bombing Chart of Transactions Due by Jan 27
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 26 – Julie
Averbach sued
Cairo Amman
Bank for
allegedly
helping Hamas,
by
transferring
its and its
leaders' money
through
JPMorgan
Chase, BNY
Mellon and
Standard
Chartered
Bank; it had a
correspondent
banking
relationship
with
Citibank.
On
January 19,
2023 U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York
Magistrate
Judge
Katharine H.
Parker held a
proceeding.
Inner City
Press covered
it.
The
complaint
describes a
Hamas bombing
in Jerusalem.
On
January 19,
Judge Parker
ordered that
the plaintiffs
must provide
the defendants
with an
updated chart
of
transactions
by January 27,
and that the
motion to
dismiss is due
by February
17.
The case is Averbach et al v. Cairo Amman Bank, 19-cv-4 (Woods / Parker)
***
January
23, 2023
Guldi on Trial For Defrauding Ditech Financial Hears his Laughing Calls from Jail in Marcy NY
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 18 – George
Guldi was
imprisoned in
the Marcy
Correctional
Facility in
New York on
March 28, 2017
when he
received in
the mail a
notice that a
lender "has
received your
payment in the
amount of
$253,236.00."
His
mind began to
whirl.
Now
Guldi is on
trial,
presided over
by U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Alvin K.
Hellerstein.
On
January 18, he
sat at defense
table as audio
of his jail
calls with
Victoria
Davidson was
played for the
jury.
In
it, Guldi is
surprisingly
upbeat,
laughing
frequently.
Davidson said,
What kind of
attorney do
you need?"
Guldi
replied, "The
kind I was."
Davidson
says, Ha, ha,
who's too
smart for his
own
good."
The
trial in
involves the
multiply-sued
bank Wells
Fargo, on
which Inner
City Press
also reports.
The
prosecutors'
gloss: "George
Guldi and
Victoria
Davidson - the
defendants are
charged with
wire fraud,
bank fraud,
and wire and
bank fraud
conspiracy in
connection
with their
alleged
involvement in
2017 in a
scheme to
fraudulently
induce Ditech
Financial LLC,
a mortgage
lending
business, to
wire them more
than
$250,000."
The case is US v. Guldi et al., 19-cr-126 (Hellerstein)
***
January
16, 2023
Zilberberg Bank Fraud Trial Is Delayed With Niece Loan Nearly Excluded, New FDIC Docs
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 11 – Mendel
Zilberberg was indicted for
bank fraud while he was a
board member of Park Avenue
Bank. His trial was to start
on January 23, 2023.
On January 11,
2023 U.S. District Court for
the Southern District of New
York Judge George B. Daniels
held an in-person final
pre-trial conference.
Inner City Press went to cover
it.
But even as the
next defendant, in a gun case,
had his family setting up in
the gallery, in the well of
the courtroom Zilberberg's
lawyer Ben Brafman was
conferring with the
prosecutors.
When
Judge Daniels took the bench,
the parties asked for an
adjournment, in light of
20,000 pages of FDIC documents
just produced. No new trial
date was agreed. Instead, a
March 28 pre-trial conference
was scheduled.
Judge
Daniels asked about a related
loan, to Zilberberg's niece.
The
prosecutor emphasized that she
was a special education
teacher, and did not have a
business for the business
loan. Judge Daniels said it
might be cumulative, and/or
prejudicial.
Brafman
said the jury could be
confused by the issue of
taking advantage of a younger
relative. Judge Daniels asked
a letter in two weeks,
response in 10 days. Then the
US Marshals brought the next
defendant out.
This case
is US v. Zilberberg, 19-cr-802
(Daniels)
January
9, 2023
HSBC Is Sued For Firing Whistleblower Exposing Front Running Sarb Ox Cited
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 2 – Stephen
Callahan sued
HSBC for
firing him for
exposing
front-running.
The
complaint,
filed in the
U.S. District
Court for the
Southern
District of
New York where
Inner City
Press found
it, recounting
HSBC paying a
$100 million
fine for
front-running,
then fire the
plaintiff for
complaining.
The
Sarbanes-Oxley
Act of 2002 is
cited.
Callahan
says he heard
HSBC's Brian
Yip tell
junior trader
Russell Dean
to "always" by
or sell for
the Bank
before putting
a price on a
transaction
for a
customer. Then
on March 7,
2022, Callahan
was suspended
by
HSBC.
HSBC
Holdings plc's
response was
due December
30, but on
December 28 a
request was
made to extend
its time to
February 6,
2023.
The
case is
Callahan v.
HSBC Holdings
plc, et al.,
22-cv-8621
(Oetken)
Goldman Sachs Indicted Insider Trader Goel Disputed Audio Now Attacks Subpoenas
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
Book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Jan 4 – Former Goldman Sachs
investment banker Brijesh Goel was arraigned on
insider trading charges on the morning of July
28, 2022. Inner City Press there - although the
arraignment had not be listed in the docket, nor
announced by prosecutors.
Goel's
case is assigned to U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York Judge P. Kevin
Castel, who held the arraignment.
Even
afterward, the docket did not contain any notice
of the arraignment - in contrast to the July 27
arraignment for insider trading of former Indian
Congressman Steve Buyer, Inner City Press story
here,
video here.
Goel, represented by defense lawyer Reed Brodsky
who was still not listed on the docket - no
notice of appearance? - after the proceeding,
pleaded not guilty.
Assistant
US Attorney Joshua Naftalis said his office
agreed to release on $1 million bond, and no
contact with "CC-1."
Brodsky, too, was concerned about CC-1. He
specifically asked that all information about
debriefing sessions with CC-1 be provided in two
or three weeks, so that he or successor counsel
can decide by the September 14 next conference
whether to file motion.
This
was incorporated into Judge Castel's Rule 5(f)
order.
Goel is accused of feeding inside information to
his graduate school friend and squash partner
Akshay Niranjan, at Barclays.
Brodsky
said Goel "could not consent" to excluding time
under the Speedy Trial Act. But then after
conferring, he did not oppose. Time was
excluded.
On
November 17, another conference was held, and
Inner City Press was there. Brodsky said that
the audio in the case is inaudible. Judge Castel
said this came up before him recently - yes, in
US versus former Honduras president Juan Orlando
Hernandez, as Inner City Press reported. Brodsky
said he might make a motion, unlike JOH's
counsel Raymond Colon.
Brodsky
had other motions, some of which Judge Castel
asked why he had "sat on" until this conference.
When the time came to set the trial date,
Brodsky asked for October, but Judge Castel put
it at June 12 with motions due before that.
On
January 4, 2023 Goel filed a motion against the
US Attorney's Office subpoenas before a trial
date was set, citing US v. Tuzman, 15-cr-536. It
includes an email from AUSA Joshua Naftalis,
including that "trial subpoenas issued before
the trial date was set... all these subpoenas
have been withdrawn."
Inner
City Press will continue to cover the case -
watch this site.
January
2, 2023
For Enabling Epstein JPM Chase & Deutsche Bank Face Trials Now JPM Moves to Dismiss
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 30 – J.P. Morgan
Chase and Deutsche Bank were
sued for their enabling of
Jeffrey Epstein, in lawsuits
filed on Thanksgiving in the
U.S. District Court for the
Southern District of New York,
where Inner City Press found
them in the docket.
The
separate lawsuits allege that
"without exorbitantly large
amounts of cash, Epstein's
operations could not run, as
newly recruited victims were
each paid hundreds of dollars
in cash immediately after
Epstein sexually abused them,
as hush money."
But
there's more, and Inner City
Press is on it. For now, the
JPM Chase complaint is on
Patreon, here.
On November 29, both cases were
assigned to SDNY Judge Jed S.
Rakoff, as "related"
to a previous case
against Deutsche
Bank he has. Both had
a proceeding on December
5 that Inner City
Press covered.
In the
courtroom along
with David
Boies, Bradley
Edwards,
Sigrid
McCawley et al
was former
SDNY
prosecutor Robert
Boone (Inner
City Press
covered him in
the Michael
Avenatti -
Stormy Daniels
criminal
case), now representing
JPMorgan
Chase.
Both
cases have the
same pre-trial schedule,
going
forward but for now they
have different
trial dates: "
barring
further order
of the Court,
trial of the
cases will
proceed
separately,
with
22-cv-10018-UA
starting trial
on August 7,
2023 and
22-cv-10019-UA
starting trial
on September
5, 2023. SO
ORDERED."
Buried on
Friday,
December 30 -
filed after 8
pm - JPM
Chase moved to
dismiss,
making
analogies fto
impunity for
banking for Iran
and AL Qaeda.
Apparently,
JPM owes no
duty to
anyone.
Earlier
on December
30, Deutsche
Bank moved to
dismiss the complaint,
emphasizing
that while the
plaintiffs point
to Jes Staley at
Chase and that
Paul Morris
worked there then at
DB, there's no
showing that
Morris knew
Staley. But
Morris
identified
Elstein as a
client, and DB
"onboarded" him.
Watch this
site.
Latein
December 2022,
US Virgin
Islands filed
suit against
JPMorgan
Chase, stating
that "JP
Morgan
knowingly
facilitated,
sustained and
concealed the
human
trafficking
network
operated by
Jeffrey
Epstein from
his home and
base in the
Virgin Islands
and financial
benefited from
this
participating
by failing to
comply with
federal
banking
regulations."
Judge Rakoff
ordered:
"ORDER:
Barring any
objection from
plaintiff
Government of
the United
States Virgin
Islands, which
must be made
by joint
telephone call
to Chambers no
later than
5:00 PM on
January 4,
2023, this
case is hereby
consolidated
for all
pretrial
purposes with
Doe v.
Deutsche Bank,
22- cv-10018
and Doe v. JP
Morgan Chase
& Co.,
22-cv-10019.
Further,
except for any
motion to
dismiss, this
case will be
governed by
the case
management
plan dated
December 5,
2022,
previously
entered in
those cases."
Deutsche
Bank complaint
on Patreon here
Maximum
Maxwell book here.
Meanwhile, the UN
has yet to
answer Inner City Press
on why SG Antonio
Guterres maintained a rep on
the board of Ghislaine
Maxwell's Terramar
Project (instead
bannign the
Press); Norway
won't answer
on its
AMbasador Mona
Juul and
Terje Roed Larsen
taking $130,000
personal loan
from Epstein.
The
JPMC case is
Doe 1 v. JP
Morgan Chase
& Co.,
22-cv-10019
(Rakoff)
Also now
Government
of the United
States
Virgin Islands
v. JP Morgan
Chase Bank,
N.A.,
22-cv-10904
(Rakoff)
Watch this site.
***
December
26, 2022
Umpqua Bank Evidences Loan Disparities As Ponzi Lawsuit Against It Proceeds in NDCA
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon
FEDERAL
COURTHOUSE, Dec 20 – Umpqua
Bank now has a
Ponzi scheme
class action
lawsuit
against it
proceeding to
trial. This
while its 2021
nationwide
mortgage
lending
record,
reviewed by
Fair Finance
Watch using
Home Mortgage
Disclosure Act
data, is
disparate.
In
2021
nationwide
Umpqua made
16,883
mortgage loans
to this, with
1560 denials
to whites -
which making
only 178 loans
to African
Americans,
with 27 denial
to African
Americans.
Inner City
Press, which
covers the DOJ
and
regulators, is
questioning
their lack of
action on
these
disparities.
In the
lawsuit, per
counsel,
An
Umpqua Bank
employee
admitted that
she removed
Casey’s name
from PFI’s
bank records
at the
company’s
request, even
though Umpqua
documents show
it knew Casey
was a
convicted
felon with a
history of
financial
crime.
An
Umpqua Bank
employee
regularly
transferred
funds to
Casey’s
personal bank
accounts from
PFI bank
accounts,
which she knew
were used to
intake money
from new
investors.
PFI’s
private banker
at Umpqua
warned PFI
that an
investor’s
concerned
attorney had
contacted the
bank, but the
banker assured
PFI that “they
got nothing
from us.”
Umpqua’s
automated
fraud
monitoring
system
repeatedly
warned the
bank of
suspicious
activity
involving
investor
money.
So
where are the
regulators,
other than
rubberstamping
mergers? Watch
this site.
December
17, 2022
SBF at SDNY Triggers Creepy Dough Questions Awaiting Extradition Like OneCoin Rhino Horn
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
LITERARY
SDNY, Dec 13 – The
Sam
Bankman-Fried
indictment was
set to be
unsealed in
the morning,
but where?
Kurt Wheelock
did a stand-up
vlog in Foley
Square,
leaning his
cell phone
against the
short thermos
he brought
Balkan soup in
to microwave
for lunch, in
the courthouse
press room.
In it he
explained
where he was
going to go,
once he got
inside, and
teased the
issue of
Bankman-Fried's
bought
influence in
the United
Nations, from
which Kurt was
still banned,
just as SBF
had bought
Washington.
The House
Financial
Services
Committee
hearing,
entitled "The
Collapse of
FTX," was to
start in half
an hour. Kurt
had time to
look for the
unsealing.
He swiped into
the
courthouse,
agreeing with
the Court
Security
Officer
manning the
turnstile that
yeah, it was
too cold too
fast, and took
the side
elevator up to
the 5th floor
where the SDNY
Magistrates
Court
is.
It's called
the
Arraignment
Court, but it
is also where
indictments
fresh out of
the Grand Jury
across the
street are
brought to the
Magistrate on
duty, to be
ordered
unsealed (if
they are), and
wheeled out to
a District
Judge.
But the Mag
Court's door
was locked. A
woman down the
hall in the
Plexi-glassed
booth of
Pre-Trial
Services waved
to Kurt and he
waved back,
adding a shrug
as if to say,
Crazy Mag
Court, no way
to know when
it is open and
processing new
arrests. Then
he took the
elevator up to
the 8th floor,
to walk to the
other side of
the
building.
That hallway
is glass on
one side,
facing the
Brooklyn and
Manhattan
Bridges and,
between them,
buildings Kurt
had come to
love. He would
sometimes
shoot his
vlogs out on
the balcony,
with the
bridges behind
him, and the
EDNY
courthouse on
Cadman Plaza
in Brooklyn on
the horizon
behind him.
But what new
news was there
to report?
That the Mag
Court's door
was
locked?
In fact, Kurt
did report
that, as a
tweet on top
of a tweet.
This
SFB crypto
fraud case was
going to be
big, bigger
than the
OneCoin scam
that Kurt had
covered when
he first got
to this
courthouse,
after being
thrown out of
the UN.
Bankman-Fried's
FTX was an
actual crypto
exchange, not
a fake crypto
without even a
blockchain
like the
OneCoin of
Ruja Ignatova
and her
brother
Konstantin.
And FTX's
Bankman-Fried,
unlike Ruja
who had
disappeared
just before
being
arrested, was
in custody now
in the
Bahamas. He
was fighting
for bail this
morning down
there, and
when he would
arrive in New
York and SDNY
would largely
ride on the
outcome of
that bail
hearing.
Kurt quickly
learned that
the US versus
SBF indictment
had been
unsealed, by
the Magistrate
Judge on duty
this week,
James Cott.
Kurt got a
stamped copy,
uploaded it to
his
DocumentCloud
and tweeted
it. He updated
the story on
his website,
then ran back
to the
Magistrates
Court. How had
it been
unsealed?
When?
This
same question,
or at least
one of timing,
was asked in
the House
Financial
Service
hearing by
Rep.
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez.
She grilled
SBF's
corporate
successor as
CEO about the
timing of
FTX's offers
to Bahamian
authorities,
his scheduled
appearance at
this morning's
hearing, and
his arrest the
evening
before. Ray
said his focus
was on trying
to track down
the missing
assets, like
at Enron. But
this fraud was
different.
Before AOC's
line of
questioning to
a by-then
largely empty
hearing room,
Committee
Chair Maxine
Waters had
turned 180
degrees and
said she hoped
SBF would be
held
accountable.
From the other
side of the
aisle came
pleas to not
throw the
crypto baby
out with the
Bankman-Fried
bathwater.
But one thing
was
inescapable:
SBF had been
showering
members of
Congress with
money to
promote crypto
legislation he
favored. Now
that FTX had
collapsed with
billions of
dollars
missing, and
he was
indicted,
would the bill
go on?
Word came that
the US
Attorney for
SDNY Damian
Williams would
be holding a
press
conference
just up St.
James Place or
alley from the
courthouse.
The rumor was
that it would
be at 1 pm,
then the
notice went
out: 2 pm.
Maybe it was
in deference
to the
still-ongoing
House
Financial
Services
hearing.
This gave Kurt
time to run up
to the 23rd
floor of the
courthouse -
by elevator of
course - and
check in on an
ongoing trial,
of doctors and
lawyers
involved in a
trip and fall
insurance
fraud ring,
and then on
the sentencing
of a man
extradited
from Senegal
for illegal
trafficking of
rhino horn.
His
extradition
had been
smooth. But
would SBF's
be?
In the OneCoin
case, Ruja
Ignatova's spy
who had tipped
her off to
impending
arrest, a man
named Frank
Schneider, had
contested his
extradition to
NY from France
for months.
Bankman-Fried
could probably
do the same in
Bahamas, given
the money he
had thrown
around there,
like another
expatriate,
pedophile
fashionista
Peter Nygard
of Canada
(himself also
with
extradition to
SDNY delayed,
amid Zoom
hearings
behind COVID
masks in
Canada).
At
1:50 Kurt
walked over to
the
prosecutors'
office and put
on the COVID
mask they had
gone back to
requiring. The
press
conference was
not in the
lobby as usual
but rather
upstairs in
the library,
where Williams
had spoken
about but not
taken
questions on
the
repatriation
of stone
sculptures to
Cambodia. Kurt
took a seat in
the fourth row
and tweeted.
Slowly, since
the cell phone
reception
wasn't strong.
Maybe by
design?
Williams
spoke, then
the FBI, SEC
and CFTC. The
SEC guy,
something of a
fixture now at
these press
conferences,
turned the
floor back
over to
Williams
rather than to
his CFTC
counterpart,
who looked on,
bemused.
This
mirrored the
competition on
who would
regulate
crypto -- or
"creepy dough"
as
Representative
Emanuel
Cleaver of
Kansas City
had insisted
on calling it
at the House
Financial
Services
hearing.
Creepy Dough
indeed.
When it came
time for
Q&A, still
wearing his
COVID mask,
Kurt asked
Damian
Williams if
his Office or
DOJ would be
going after
the
politicians
who'd taken
SBF's money,
and about the
bill he'd
bought that
was still
pending. Then
if he would be
asking to
remand SBF to
jail pending
trial.
That's
a lot of
questions,
Williams
quipped. Then
he dodged all
of them,
saying he
would not
expand on the
indictment,
nor speak
about bail
with
Bankman-Fried
still in the
Bahamas.
Lot
of questions
indeed. Kurt
would be
digging into
them - Creepy
Dough, more on
Patreon here
***
December
12, 2022
Disberry Sues Bank of New York For Sloppy Colgate Pension Process Leading to Theft
By
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Maxwell
book
BBC -
Honduras
- CIA
Trial book - NY
Mag
SDNY
COURTHOUSE, Dec 8 – Paula
Disberry
worked for
Colgate-Palmolive
for eleven
years, but
then with a
role for Bank
of New York
Mellon her
ERISA pension
benefits were
stolen. She
sued.
On
December 6,
2022, U.S.
District Court
for the
Southern
District of
New York Judge
Colleen
McMahon held a
proceeding.
Inner City
Press went and
covered
it.
Judge
McMahon asked
Disberry's
lawyer why she
was suing the
Bank of New
York. It
appears that
amid rapid
fire requests
to change and
pay out the
pension from
people who
stole the PIN
from her
mailbox, BONY
never emailed
or called
Disberry to
ask, Is this
you?
Questions
arose about
the
requirement,
or not, to
exhaust
administrative
remedies.
Before
turning to a
sentencing in
an illegal
re-entry case,
Judge McMahon
promised the
parties a
ruling and
that if she
does not
dismiss the
case, four
months for
discovery.
The
case is
Disberry v.
Employee
Relations
Committee of
the
Colgate-Palmolive
Company et
al.,
22-cv-5778
(McMahon)
December
5, 2022