no doubt the president’s ideology is that of the european redistributionism.
GWB had to destroy capitalism to save it using TARP, "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”. "
btt
“never waste a crisis”-— rom emanuelle
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.
The actual title of the linked article is “Dr. Evil & Mini-Me have hi-jacked the Banking System.”
Call their bluff. if they convert to common stock file for Bankruptcy and the feds get nada....
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.