![]() ![]() What happened next is what director James calls, "a wrongful persecution" and "an unequal application of justice."ĭespite Sung's blowing the whistle on their employee's illicit activities and firing him the same day it was discovered, the bank itself became the target of a federal investigation into mortgage fraud. They immediately reported it to the banking authorities and fired the employee. ![]() ![]() The ordeal began when Jill Sung, CEO of the bank founded by her father, Thomas Sung, noticed an anomaly in the bank's loan department and discovered one of the bank's lower-level employees had been falsifying mortgage applications.ĭid they cover it up and skate with a simple fine like all the big banks did? No. In 2012, in the aftermath of the crippling 2008 mortgage crisis that sent the United States and world economies into a devastating tailspin for half a decade, New York District Attorney Cyrus Vance filed multiple charges of fraud against Abacus Federal Savings Bank, a small, privately-owned bank that served New York's Chinatown community. Movie City News called it "one of the best documentaries in recent years," while The Hollywood Reporter asserted it was "both an affirmation and an indictment of the American Dream." It won Best Documentary from the Critics Choice and the National Board of Review Awards. The Academy Award-winning director, Steve James, best known for "Hoop Dreams," told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview, "I gravitated toward documentaries because I wanted to tell stories, but I wanted to tell true stories about people in pivotal situations, at a crossroads in their lives. mortgage crisis that triggered a financial crisis worldwide. It's a film about a tiny Chinese-American community bank indicted for fraud during the 2008 U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominees for its 90th Oscar awards to be given on March 4, their line-up for Best Documentary Feature included, "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail." The bank’s default rate was 0.3 percent during the period covered by the indictment, from May 2005 to February 2010 - far below the national average.LOS ANGELES, March 1 (Xinhua) - When the U.S. Yet few of the bank’s loans went into default. Loan originators and borrowers testified they had colluded on loan after loan - evidence related to 32 mortgages was presented - to overstate the income and exaggerate the job titles of mortgage applicants. They argued at trial that they were unaware of the fraudulent documents being created by loan originators, who earned commissions and had a financial incentive to burnish the borrower’s credentials.Īccording to the Times report, Abacus is a small bank that has a “major presence” among New York City’s Chinese population.įrom the start, it was a difficult case for prosecutors to prove. Tam were found not guilty of all charges against them, including grand larceny, conspiracy, falsifying business records and mortgage fraud. Seven former employees still await trial. Ten of the defendants pleaded guilty, and some of those agreed to testify for the prosecution against their superiors.īut the bank’s chief credit officer, Yiu Wah Wong, and Raymond Tam, who was the loan origination supervisor, went to trial in late January, along with the bank itself, as a corporate entity. The bank and its employees stood accused of inflating the income of loan applicants and falsifying documents.Īccording to a report from the New York Times, a New York jury found Abacus not guilty of charges including grand larceny, conspiracy, falsifying business records and residential mortgage fraud. Just over two years ago, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance filed charges against Abacus Federal and 19 individuals associated with the bank, accusing the bank of selling fraudulent loans to Fannie Mae. A jury ruled that New York-based Abacus Federal Savings Bank and two of its senior officers are not guilty of defrauding Fannie Mae, bringing some closure to a case that began in 2012 and a trial that began four months ago. ![]()
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