Jamie Dimon’s parents die within hours of each other

Wow, how really strange…And Dimon, himself, was diagnosed with cancer…

NY Post:

JPMorgan Chief Executive Jamie Dimon lost both his parents to cancer earlier this week.

Veteran Wall Streeter Theodore “Ted” Dimon passed away on June 5 at the age of 85. Themis Dimon, his wife of 65 years, died a day later, on June 6, at the age of 84,according to WSJ.com.

After a wave of mergers and acquisitions, the elder Dimon ended up working for his son when Jamie rose to become chairman and CEO of Smith Barney in January 1996.

Ted Dimon was reunited with his son again at JPMorgan and worked in the office until a few months before his death, WSJ.com reported.

How Trump University ran the scam: NY AG Schneiderman explains why he’s prosecuting Donald Trump’s real estate ‘education’ operation for fraud

BYERIC SCHNEIDERMAN

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Thursday, June 9, 2016, 5:00 AM

The allegations in my office’s case against Donald Trump and Trump University have me thinking back to the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago.

Back then, hundreds of fairgoers crowded around a stage to see “The Rattlesnake King,” a former cowboy-turned-salesman named Clark Stanley. As the crowd looked on, Stanley pulled out a two-foot rattlesnake from a sack beside him, slit it open and plunged it into a boiling pot of water.

The crowd cheered as Stanley skimmed the fat off the top of the water and appeared to ladle it into a series of small glass bottles. Stanley boasted that his concoction — “Stanley’s Snake Oil” — would cure “all pain and lameness.”

Of course, the snake oil wasn’t a cure-all. In fact, it wasn’t even snake oil. Stanley had mixed together some turpentine, beef fat and red pepper to fill the bottles — and scam consumers who were desperate for help.

Using false promises to prey on desperate people has long been a hallmark of “snake-oil salesmen.” A lawsuit by my office alleges that Donald Trump was basically doing the same thing with Trump University — swindling desperate people with phony promises.

In a lengthy written statement about the case this week, Donald Trump sought to deflect attention away from the core facts in the lawsuits against him. Trump claims he is unable to get a fair trial from the judge in two California lawsuits , Gonzalo Curiel — whom Trump has repeatedly attacked and said could not be impartial due to the Indiana native’s Mexican heritage, because Trump’s campaign is focused on “illegal immigration.”

That is absurd and offensive. And nearly as absurd is the statement’s claim that Trump University offered a “substantive, valuable education.”

The facts, as set forth in our complaint, are quite different.

We allege that the fraud ran from beginning to end, starting with the name of the scheme. New York law prevents people from operating an unlicensed university. Trump’s venture never qualified or registered as a university under state law.

Read on.

How an obscure nonprofit in Washington protects tax havens for the rich

In May 2007, during a global crackdown on offshore tax havens, an obscure nonprofit lobbying group in Northern Virginia sent a fundraising pitch to a law firm in one of the biggest tax havens in the world — Panama.

The Center for Freedom and Prosperity promised to persuade Congress, members of the George W. Bush administration and key policymakers to protect the players of the offshore world, where hundreds of thousands of shell companies had been created, often to hide money and evade taxes.

To reach out to American officials and fund its U.S. operations, the center said it needed an infusion of cash for an eight-month campaign: at least $247,000.

“We hope you can support this effort with a donation,” the center wrote in a document sent to Mossack Fonseca, the law firm at the heart of an international financial scandal known as the Panama Papers. The leak of more than 11.5 million documents, which came from inside the Panamanian law firm, has pulled back the curtain in recent months on secretive offshore tax havens and the people who use them to stash their money, including a rogues’ gallery of international criminals, money launderers and drug dealers.

Read on.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren: Top House GOPer “Sprinting Toward Trump Towers” With Dodd-Frank Repeal

The highest ranking Congressman overseeing banking regulation met with Donald Trump in New York on Tuesday, after unveiling a plan to repeal much of Dodd-Frank.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas) declined to go into the gritty details when asked about the meeting on Fox Business Channel. He said Trump “well-received the message” and is “interested in the policy.”

“I’m not going to go into the blow-by-blow,” he said.

Hensarling, who endorsed Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in the primary and is backing Trump in the general election, said he disagreed with many of the nominee’s statements. He wholeheartedly agreed with host Stuart Varney’s assertion, that Trump represents the country’s “only hope” of repealing Dodd-Frank.

Hensarling’s initiative would exempt banks from Dodd-Frank rules if they agreed to hold more cash in reserves, according to Reuters. It would also repeal the Volcker Rule, which prohibits banks from financing speculative trades with federally-insured consumer deposits.

Read on.

Donald Trump’s History of Paying to Sway Attorneys General

Truthout:

Spitzer, Cuomo, Pirro Took Trump Cash

Trump’s political donations to state candidates top $800,000 in nearly 15 states. (Graphic credit:National Institute on Money in State Politics)

Bondi’s not the only attorney general who’s received Trump’s money. According to the National Institute on Money in State Politics, Trump collectively gave to attorneys general nine times in Florida, California and New York for a total of $134,015.

• 1998
  • Dennis Vacco, R-New York, $27,965
• 2002
  • Eliot Spitzer, D-New York, $11,000 Spitzer resigned one year after serving as Governor of New York in 2008
• 2006
  • Walter Campbell Jr., D-California, $1,000
  • Edmund Brown Jr., D-California, $1,000 Brown now serves as the Governor of California
  • Andrew Cuomo, D-New York, $20,000 Cuomo now serves as the Governor of New York
  • Jeanine Pirro, R-New York, $10,000 Pirro is currently a television personality on Fox News
• 2010
  • Kathleen Rice, D-New York, $19,050 Rice now serves as Representative to New York’s 4th district
  • Eric Schneiderman, D-New York, $12,500
  • Daniel Donovan, R-New York, $5,000 Donovan now serves as Representative to New York’s 11th district
• 2014
  • Pamela Bondi, R-Florida, $500
  • Kamala Harris, D-California, $6,000
  • John Cahill, R-New York, $20,000

JUDGE RULES FORMER OCWEN CHAIRMAN WILLIAM ERBY MUST FACE SECURITIES FRAUD LAWSUIT

Just off the wire so more to come…

In a decision on Monday, U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas said plaintiffs had adequately alleged that Erbey and the company, Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS), misrepresented to investors that the company had controls over conflicts of interest.

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ET AL V. OCWEN: JUDGE RULES DOCS ADMISSIBLE IN HAMP FALSE CLAIMS ACT CASE

“In 2009, Ocwen Financial Corp. participated in the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program and the relators allege the company lied about its compliance with the program’s guidelines, according to court documents. HAMP helps homeowners avoid foreclosure by lowering interest rates and payments, extending terms and forgiving principal, but in OFC’s case, it allegedly led to homeowners losing their properties while executives took nearly $2 billion in incentive payments from the government.”

A Texas federal judge on Tuesday determined that banking documents related to a state government investigation into Ocwen Loan Servicing LLC’s financial practices, which the company claims to have “inadvertently disclosed” to relators bringing a pair of False Claims Act suits, are not privileged and can be used at trial.

Ocwen Loan Servicing, and subsidiaries Ocwen Financial Corp. and Homeward Residential Inc. are facing a pair of lawsuits brought by relators Michael J. Fisher and Brian Bullock alleging the companies provided false information to a federal loan program. U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant on Tuesday rejected an argument from Ocwen that the reports produced by the West Virginia Division of Financial Institutions, according to West Virginia law, “shall be confidential,” because the documents discuss the financial condition of the loan servicing company.

The court found that the state’s laws actually explicitly say that in the context of a civil enforcement brought by a state or regulatory authority, that information can be disclosed. In this case, the relators “stand in the shoes of the state,” he wrote, which permits disclosure.

Rest here…

AVANT DENIES ANY WRONGDOING AS WEST VIRGINIA AG REACHES $336,000 SETTLEMENT WITH ONLINE LENDER

CHARLESTON — Attorney General Patrick Morrisey today announced a $336,000 settlement with Avant, Inc. to resolve allegations the online lender’s business practices violated the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act.

The settlement involves allegations related to the marketing, promoting and enabling of 90 unsecured consumer loans from April to August 2014 in West Virginia.

“It is our duty to protect consumers from unscrupulous business practices,” Attorney General Morrisey said. “We work hard to enforce the state’s consumer protection laws to ensure businesses operate legally and fairly.”

The settlement alleges Avant led consumers to believe that it was licensed to make loans in West Virginia and do so with higher interest rates than permitted by state law. It also alleges Avant caused unnecessary confusion and misunderstanding, misled consumers as to its affiliation with foreign banks and advertised loans and credit services with intent not to sell the services as advertised.

Attorney General Morrisey further contends Avant operated without registering with the Secretary of State’s Office or complying with the state’s Credit Services Organizations Act.

Avant denies any wrongdoing as a part of the settlement and assures it will comply with the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act.

The settlement requires Avant to pay a civil penalty of $225,000.

The company must also refund and cease to collect at least $111,843.89 in interest and fees associated with the 90 loans. Additionally, all negative credit reports linked to the loans must be deleted.

View a copy of the settlement at: http://1.usa.gov/1U9s0hD.

SOURCE: http://www.ago.wv.gov

NEW YORK: BANK OF AMERICA MORTGAGE LIEN RELEASE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT

For all persons who were the mortgagor party to a residential mortgage on real property located in New York State serviced by Bank of America for which all authorized principal, interest and all other amounts or otherwise owed by law was completely paid between July 12, 2010 and November 27, 2015, but Bank of America failed to present a certificate of discharge or satisfaction of mortgage within 30 days to the recording officer of the county where the mortgage was recorded, then you are eligible for a potential award from the Bank of America Mortgage Lien Release Class Action Lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, BofA allege that the bank neglected to present documentation that their mortgages had been fully satisfied to the recording officer in the New York State. Bank of America has continued to deny the allegations set forth in the claims, however they have agreed to the settlement in order to avoid the further risk, expenses and delay of ongoing litigation. So if you are eligible, file a claim by 7/18/2016 to receive your potential award!

More here…