PALO ALTO, Calif. — In late 2013, an A.T.M. in Kiev started dispensing cash at seemingly random times of day. No one had put in a card or touched a button. Cameras showed that the piles of money had been swept up by customers who appeared lucky to be there at the right moment.

But when a Russian cybersecurity firm, Kaspersky Lab, was called to Ukraine to investigate, it discovered that the errant machine was the least of the bank’s problems.

The bank’s internal computers, used by employees who process daily transfers and conduct bookkeeping, had been penetrated by malware that allowed cybercriminals to record their every move. The malicious software lurked for months, sending back video feeds and images that told a criminal group — including Russians, Chinese and Europeans — how the bank conducted its daily routines, according to the investigators.

Then the group impersonated bank officers, not…

Respectfully submitted by Lawrence E. Rafferty, (rafflaw) Weekend Contributor

British banking giant, HSBC reached an agreement in 2012 with the Department of Justice that kept it from being hauled in to court on criminal charges due to its systemic assistance in laundering money for drug cartels and allegedly terrorists.  HSBC, with its Hong Kong headquarters shown above, is now in trouble again for alleged problems prior to the settlement agreement in 2012.

“The US Department of Justice is considering bringing criminal charges against HSBC and its executives as part of its investigation into whether the bank’s Swiss subsidiary helped US clients evade taxes.

Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren called on prosecutors to “come down hard” on HSBC if the bank is found to have colluded with tax evaders on Tuesday.

Her intervention came as US government officials with knowledge of the DoJ’s investigation provided the Guardian with new details about the inquiry.

Nye Lavalle has been fighting foreclosure fraud for more than 20 years.  He is someone that I deeply respect.  Last week Nye filed his comments related to proposed amendments to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure.  I am not going to try to summarize his 144 page document filled with extensive case citations.  Read it for yourself and let me know what you think.

According to sources on Facebook, Mary McCulley has been released from the high security federal prison USP Hazelton.  She is being transported by a close friend to an undisclosed halfway house in southern Indiana, not far from her hometown in Kentucky.  McCulley appealed her sentence and now has been granted oral argument by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, scheduled for April 6, 2014 at the William K. Nakamura Courthouse in Seattle.

More details as they become available.

For those who may be unfamiliar with Mary’s incredible story:

“If you follow the news of foreclosure fraud and bad banks, you have certainly heard that on February 7, 2014, a Gallatin County, Montana jury awarded Ms. Mary McCulley an incredible $6 million verdict against US Bank of Montana, with $5 million of that figure being awarded for punitive damages.

It’s the kind of victory that foreclosure fighters have…

The American foreclosure crisis gripped our nation, reminded all of us of the dangers of risky loans and left millions without their homes.  At its peak, it was downright scary for homeowners worrying when the bank would repossess their homes.

But we’ve discovered a darker side to the business of home foreclosures; it’s a side that victimizes the most innocent of people.  Banks often contract out the gritty process of clearing out homes, but as we explore in this investigation, contractors often gets it wrong.

Joseph and Priscilla Saavedra know that fact all too well.  The couple lives in Tijeras, but they own a house in the San Miguel County village of San Geronimo, just outside of Las Vegas, NM.  And this isn’t just any house; it’s a home that has been in their family for generations and the home where they planned to live full time after they retire.