Posted on 07/26/2011 10:51:51 AM PDT by JerseyHighlander
Two former Florida prosecutors are accusing the state Attorney General of firing them for going after mortgage lenders too aggressively.
The Sun Sentinel reported that Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson were abruptly fired by Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi at the end of May and say the attention they were focusing on combating mortgage fraud was the reason.
"Obviously we did our job too well," Edwards told the Sentinel. "We were making too much noise."
Bondi's chief of staff Carlos Muniz released a long statement to the newspaper which said that Edwards and Clarkson were let go because of problems related to "proper identification and analysis of legal issues ... judgment in discussing matters related to pending investigations with third parties ... and ... professionalism to opposing counsel."
But both women had consistently received strong evaluations, according to the Sentinel. So what gives?
Edwards told the newspaper in an email that she and Clarkson "were pleased that the Attorney General's Office was dedicating more attorneys to foreclosure fraud, but said she also found it curious that they would do so without letting the two lawyers provide any transition notes on their cases," the newspaper reported.
"I will be interested to see the results of all the hours and energy that is now being used on these investigations," Edwards wrote. Reported the Sentinel:
Edwards and Clarkson attracted widespread media attention for the exposure of foreclosure mills, turning up fraudulent signatures and fake names on documents being used to oust people from their homes. Documents didn't have the correct dates. Large financial institutions couldn't always produce the proper paperwork.
But as the women were racking up cases, Bondi also came under fire for being soft on mortgage lenders.
She is 100% captured by the industry she is supposed to be regulating.
Florida Governor Rick Scott is showing his real colors by allowing this situation to escalate again, even after the Republicans (and many Democrats) in the FL Legislature have tried to restore some credibility in the Judiciary.
A captured regulator such as AG Bondi is the rule, not the exception, and the 50 states' AGs should not be given the power to reach sweetheart deals with the banks and mortgage holders without democratic and private investor input.
Bondi and the AGs, stealing over a Trillion dollars from American households in broad daylight. Being cheered on by Republicans across the country.
” Bondi and the AGs, stealing over a Trillion dollars from American households in broad daylight. Being cheered on by Republicans across the country. “
Country club RINOS, if you will ;-)
Lots of squealing going on from stuck pigs, few if any specific criticisms.
Sounds like she's in line with conservative AG's across the country:
Bondi and the attorneys general of Texas, Virginia and South Carolina have taken against using the Mortgage Foreclosure Multistate Group to force mortgage servicers to reduce the principal on loans to financially troubled homeowners.
Kenneth Cuccinelli of Virgina, Greg Abbott of Texas and Alan Wilson of South Carolina signed the letter with Bondi. Georgia Attorney General Sam Olens on Tuesday joined the group telling Bloomberg News he has "significant concerns" about the proposal.
Actually, I would argue that deadbeat American home buyers have stolen trillions from taxpayers and shareholders of American banks. These deadbeats now want the banks to cover the losses they incurred by buying too high. Politically-ambitious prosecutors are going after the shareholders of these banks to help these home buyer deadbeats to get a free lunch. These aren't prosecutors - they're ambulance chasers on the public payroll.
Sounds like BS to me without seeing some evidence to back it up.
What is the track record of these two prosecutors on issues unrelated to mortgage fraud? And I’m not talking about glowing reviews. I’m talking about putting criminals behind bars.
Here is an interview with the two fired prosecutors:
These two attorneys were fired due to political pressure from Gov Scott’s contributors. They were given ultimatums in the middle of the work week to quit within the day or be fired, with no prior indication that their employment status was in jeopardy.
http://www.wusf.usf.edu/sites/default/files/storyaudio/7-20%20robosign.mp3
Whether they were given the appropriate amount of notice is a separate issue from whether what they were doing was consistent with the AG's policies.
The lawyers who forced the ouster of the Prosecutors are the largest fraudclosure lawfirms in South Florida, Richman Greer, Daniel C. Consuegra, etc.
Every trade pub that has defended Bondi for the firings has used lots and lots of quotes from opposing counsel, every single one of which is under investigation for various crimes related to fraudclosure. And every one a high level political contributor in SoFla.
Immediately before Scott’s political pressure on Bondi to fire Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson, he also used political pressure to remove their supervisor, Division Director Richard Lawson, once he was gone and unable to protect the two ladies from the political pressure, they were immediately shown the boot a week later.
Scott and Bondi not only fired these two ladies, but removed their Division Director Richard Lawson abruptly and without notice immediately before the firings, so there wouldn’t be anyone in the way for the hatchet job.
Immediately afterwards, Scott’s political campaign contributors who run fraudclosure mills were giving interviews with every media outlet in South FLorida that would take their calls, all in an effort to justify this abrogation of the independence of judicial freedom of the AG Division responsible for foreclosure fraud in South Florida.
Bondi is a joke.
she is doing sham settlements to protect blatent fraud.
she should be the one investigated and even subject to bar discipline. (there are ethics rules regarding interfearing with representation)
rude to opposing counsel? which counsel? the ones perpetrating the fraud? the ones which were supposed to be investigated? newsflash to bondi, EVERYONE in the legal field is laughing at those firms.
Consuegra? as in robosigning?!!!!
this is like letting the criminal pick the prosecutor.
this stinks to high heaven.
WHERE IS THE FLORIDA BAR?
The FL USSC is in charge of these lawyers.
“company policy” is not allowed as an excuse to suborne unethical conduct.
Foreclose this ping!
I am suprised the MSM is giving former fox contributor a free pass.
From "Fact over Fiction":
A spokeswoman for Bondi, Jennifer Krell Davis, said the economic crimes division “continues to actively pursue the investigations into foreclosure law firms.” She said the division’s director, Richard Lawson, is leading the inquiry into one of the state’s largest foreclosure firms and is supervising other cases.
“The division has made these investigations a top priority and will continue to actively pursue all of our investigations into foreclosure law firms,” Davis said in an e-mail, adding that Lawson had assigned 14 attorneys and investigators to work on the cases that belonged to Edwards and Clarkson.
Sounds to me like these ladies had some problems with their investigations, and Bondi is trying to make sure it is done correctly.
source: http://www.factoverfiction.com/article/1442
Also, the firing of TWO people does not a conspiracy make. Remember when Clinton fired the entire U.S. Attorney General brigade? Nary a word or investigation from the press.
When Bush fired four or five, the liberal media wet themselves and cried for Karl Rove's head.
Here, we see Republicans "cleaning house" a little bit, and more panic mongering from the media.
Trust me, the Palm Beach Post (where the firings were apparently first reported) and the Fort Loserdale Sun-Slantenal are NOT fair and balanced news sources.
Captured Agency Regulators have a common trick, whenever a peon gets too close to the truth regarding a protected person or class of people, reassign/fire the peon regulator and refuse the new regulator access to any of the notes and case files of the prior troublesome peon prosecutor.
That is the EXACT situation going on right now.
The new SoFla Divison prosecutors formally asked for Theresa Edwards and June Clarkson’s files and were outright refused access by Lawson’s office.
This stinks to high heaven.
Fraudclosure mills? Please. The banks are bleeding cash, letting deadbeat home buyers live rent-free in homes they haven't made mortgage payments on for years. What you call "fraudclosure mills" are merely law firms that have cut corners in terms of producing documentation that the banks do own the properties in question. And why has this issue even come up? Because the banks cut corners in terms of processing the loan applications in the first place. It's not that they did not lend the deadbeat home buyers money - it's just the home buyers are trying to get free homes or rent-free accommodations based on the technicality that the banks are having difficulty documenting title to those homes, because of corners cut in processing title paperwork. Bottom line is that the villains in this situation are not bank shareholders or the AG, it is the deadbeat home buyers who want free homes or rent-free accommodations, and the sleazy prosecutors who want to help them get these things.
I find it VERY suspicious that the supervisor was also fired AND the investigation targeted law firms were praising the firings.
Remember these firms were caught red handed submitting fraudulent documents. If they fall THOUSANDS of cases are in jeopardy.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.