The Diabolical Genius of TARP

http://www.electedimbeciles.com ^

[publius321]

"...That’s the diabolical genius of Obama and little Timmy’s (picture Dr’ Evil’s “Mimi-me”) scheme to convert the Preferred Bank Shares to Common stock.

It would appear that if they could take control of the management of these institutions by gaining control of the Boards and a large percentage of voting shares, they would essentially be able to engage in the type of reckless spending i.e. wealth re-distribution without having to bother with Congressional approval.

It would be a minor technicality that they would be calling the redistribution “loans” instead of “spending”. This new spending could essentially be viewed by the recipients as “forgivable loans”. That’s chicanery at its finest! It would be a lousy deal for shareholders because any profits from the -good loans- made by the bank would be wiped out by all of the bad loans. If these preferred shares do get converted to common, don’t look for much in the way of dividends if you are a shareholder because any “profits” will end up in the hands of organizations favored by the administration that is controlling the Treasury Department.

Looked at from this perspective, this would undoubtedly be the biggest bank heist in the history of the world. Instead of the tax-payers getting paid back with the present high yielding Preferred dividends, we will own equity positions in banks that will never pay dividends again as they become a piggy bank for governmental pet projects and corruption..."

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

Obama was handed the keys to conduct his radical fascist agenda on a silver platter.

And WRT the economy, I don't think Hillary would have been better than BO if she had been elected POTUS. Sept. 2008 granted a silver platter to whatever leftist they had running for POTUS. The Clintons in 1992 did not have such an enormous gift from Papa Bush.

[KeyLargo]

Wednesday, April 22, 2009
U.S. Settles First TARP-Related Fraud Case

Peter Barnes and Joanna Ossinger
FOXBusiness

The first fraud case related to the government’s $700 billion financial bailout plan is now official.

On Wednesday, the Justice Department filed a criminal case against Gordon Grigg, a financial adviser in Tennessee, partially over alleged claims that his investments were affiliated with the government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. In January, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil charges against Grigg to shut him down.

According to his lawyer, Grigg reached a plea agreement with prosecutors on Tuesday, pleading guilty to four counts of mail fraud and four counts of wire fraud.

“The fraud involved the misappropriation of approximately $5 million of client funds by Mr. Grigg,” said Mark Pickrell, Grigg’s attorney in Nashville, Tenn, in a statement. “Mr. Grigg is remorseful for his actions, and he faces up to eight years’ imprisonment for this fraud under the federal sentencing guidelines.” Pickrell said Grigg cooperated “with numerous federal and State authorities to bring resolution to the charges against him.”

Prosecutors said Grigg scammed about 60 investors out of nearly $11 million over 18 years. They said he used about $6 million to give to customers who cashed out or closed their accounts but kept $5 million for himself “for personal benefit and expenses” and to run his company. They alleged he “made representations to investors that their…investment accounts were safe and profitable, and inflated returns on investment” and “falsely claimed to have negotiated partnerships and special business relationships with several of the nation’s most successful investment firms.”

According to the SEC complaint, Grigg told investors in one scheme that his company, ProTrust, had set up a partnership with Berkshire Hathaway, which is headed by famed investor Warren Buffett, and private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts to invest in government guaranteed debt through TARP.

The SEC said that in his correspondence with two investors in December, Grigg wrote, “Via the partnership, ProTrust has purchased over 8 million dollars worth of banking debt and commercial bank paper over the last 5 years — with interest rates from 7.5% to 14%. ProTrust was offered to participate in the latest offerings with Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sacks [sic] through investments and loans. The result is —I agreed with the partnerships and committed to over $5 million dollars of commercial paper offering 12.5%.”

Prosecutors say the partnership never existed. No actual TARP funds were lost or misused in the scam.
Involved in the bringing case were the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, Edward M. Yarbrough; Neil Barofsky, Special Inspector General for TARP; Katherine S. Addleman, Regional Director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; and a number of other officials.

“The filing of charges today against Gordon Grigg, the first criminal charges brought in connection with a SIGTARP investigation, marks a significant milestone in the evolution of SIGTARP and of TARP oversight generally,” Barofsky said. He added that the case “serve(s) notice on all who might try to profit criminally from the current national crisis that the United States Government stands ready to detect, investigate and punish any and all who use the TARP program to commit fraud.”

Barofsky will testify before the Joint Economic Committee Thursday and is expected to discuss some 20 other criminal probes into possible securities fraud, tax violations, insider trading and other crimes involving TARP.

[ding_dong_daddy_from_dumas]

The actual title of the linked article is “Dr. Evil & Mini-Me have hi-jacked the Banking System.”

[Kozak]

Call their bluff. if they convert to common stock file for Bankruptcy and the feds get nada....

[Kozak]

Ditto. You will find me less often in the ED and more often on the beach.

[Kozak]

rom emanuelle

Is that Ram's slower cousin?

[thirst4truth]

DHS might have been given wide reaching powers with the help of the Patriot Act for valid reasonss but with elected scoundrels, you can always count on the initial cure becoming far worse then the disease itself.

Like Nixon and the EPA, and he still wasn't loved by "creating" it. Now the EPA can circumvent the congress and the will of the people and declare CO2 a pollutant and regulate it.

The air we breath out and trees and plants breath in for survival is now a pollutant, thanks Nixon!!

[thirst4truth]

My only guess is that GW Bush saw his legacy slipping away, and didn't want to be chastised by the media as a "do-nothing-Herbert-Hoover."

He started slipping on day one, in 2001 when he declared himself a "compassionate conservative". Invited kennedy over for a movie and popcorn, then substantially increased the budget for the failing schools, appeasing the libs in congress and the teachers union. To get good press? or because he believed in it and was not a conservative?

Great he was prolife, and kept us safe, but at what cost? Did we have to have the new mega beaucracy of DHS formed and funded to keep us safe? At the cost now of being the target of DHS? The same department that can save over $50,000,000 in office supplies if they buy in bulk? My God how big is their office supply budget? What do they do? Oh yea, they use the office supplies to put out memos to the entire law enforcement aparatus of the nation to warn about the upcoming enemy, American terriosts, who like to save babies in the womb and deny homo's the sanctity of marriage.

[dennisw]

Rom Emanuele is 0mobo’s consigliere, enforcer and all around scumbag. As a Jew I renounce this backstabber of Israel

[longtermmemmory]

does anyone remember the miniseries “Amerika”?

at one point the Komisar demands the US congress disband itself because “it serves no purpose.”

Congress still thinks they are in charge.

[publius321]

“The same department that can save over $50,000,000 in office supplies if they buy in bulk? My God how big is their office supply budget?”

Just think of how much they could save by switching to GEICO.

“What do they do? Oh yea, they use the office supplies to put out memos to the entire law enforcement aparatus of the nation to warn about the upcoming enemy, American terriosts, who like to save babies in the womb and deny homo’s the sanctity of marriage.”

Right on. They need all of those people to change that highly usefull “terror alert”. What color alert are we on now?

[4Liberty]

The Democrat Party is funded with union money. Now, it’s taxpayer money, since taxes are bailing out the UAW.

Why should I pay for Democrat candidates, causes?

The Dems KNOW what is going on — so does BamBam. They LOVE IT.

Where’s the public??? The huge %, that voted against Dems/BO last fall?????????????????

[SkyPilot]

The Democrat Party is funded with union money. Now, it’s taxpayer money

I got into it with another Freeper when Bush's next to last act as President was bailout the corrupt, thuggish, and criminal UAW. It lasted for days.

The other Freeper would not listen to reason or the facts. A blind person could see where this trainwreck was going.

My only guess is her husband collected a paycheck or retirement check from GM or another automaker.

[SkyPilot]

He started slipping on day one, in 2001 when he declared himself a "compassionate conservative". Invited kennedy over for a movie and popcorn, then substantially increased the budget for the failing schools, appeasing the libs in congress and the teachers union. To get good press? or because he believed in it and was not a conservative?

I remember this. The Bush's are a decent family - the trouble is their opponents (the Democrats and the Media) are lower than mafia criminals. The Bush family could never figure this out.

Back when George Herbert Walker Bush (Bush '41) was President, he said in his inauguration speech in 1989: "So, I am holding out my hand to you Mister Speaker; I am holding out my hand to you Mister Majority Leader....

Then, 18 months later, he complained in a speech:

"I held out my hand - and the Democrats bit it!"

I am serious. Those are real quotes. I am not making this up.

GW Bush tried to govern as Mr. Nice Guy to these people.

All they did was salivate, back stab him, run end arounds him, attack him, lie about him, and hate him.

And in his last few days as President in December of 2008 - GW Bush had still not learned a thing about negotiating with Liberals.