19 | August | 2013 | Deadly Clear

Don’t you just love Judge Rakoff?! Maybe he should run for President.

Judge endorses US use of fraud law against Bank of America

A federal judge has endorsed a broad interpretation of a savings-and-loan era law that the U.S. Justice Department is trying to use in cases against Wall Street banks.

U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan said Monday that a “straightforward application of the plain words” of the Financial Institutional Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) allowed the interpretation sought by the government.

The law has a low burden of proof, strong subpoena power and a 10-year statute of limitations, twice as long as the typical limit for fraud cases.

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Why Wall Street & Co. Will Do Anything to Stop Eliot Spitzer from Championing the Public Interest

Web of Debt blog / By Ellen Brown
The latest post from the AlterNet

Spitzer as comptroller: Good for New York, good for women, terrifying for Wall Street abusers.

Before Eliot Spitzer’s infamous resignation as governor of New York in March 2008, he was one of our fiercest champions against Wall Street corruption, in a state that had some of the toughest legislation for controlling the banks. It may not be a coincidence that the revelation of his indiscretions with a high-priced call girl came less than a month after he published a bold editorial in the Washington Post titled “ Predatory Lenders’ Partner in Crime: How the Bush Administration Stopped the States from Stepping in to Help Consumers.” The editorial Continue reading →