Damon Geller – The days of banks being trusted institutions to help protect your savings & retirement are over. First, it was the banks gambling on derivatives that blew up the global economy in 2008 and cost citizens trillions in savings & retirement. Then, it was the banks turning over customer accounts to the IRS & police for total seizure without due process of law. Next came reports that banks are abolishing our ability to use & store cash. And now comes a frightening report that banks have agreed to pay $81 BILLION in restitution & penalties for criminal & civil abuses against the public and their own customers. So more than ever, if you want real protection of your savings & retirement, you better move it out of the bank. Fast.
Banks Commit Historic Fraud against the Public & Customers
In a recent report by McClatchy detailing the millions in speaking fees the Clintons have received from banks, McClatchy drops a bombshell: the same banks that have been supporting the former (and possibly next) president of the United States have agreed to pay $81 BILLION in restitution & penalties to resolve federal investigations into alleged corruption and to avert criminal and civil trials. In other words, the banks paid their way out of jail after defrauding you and me for years. Some of the crimes & penalties are as follows:
Bank of America
Restitution & Penalties: $27.8 Billion. Defrauded homebuyers with risky mortgage loans, committed mortgage servicing abuses, and engaged in unsound foreign exchange practices.
JP Morgan Chase
Restitution & Penalties: $17.6 Billion. Rigged currency exchange rates, facilitated Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme, sold risky mortgage securities, and engaged in mortgage servicing abuses and unsound banking practices.
Wells Fargo
Restitution & Penalties: $5.3 Billion. Engaged in mortgage servicing abuses, and is now at the center of a scandal involving the opening of bogus customer accounts without customer knowledge.
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