I've thought all along that this was a load of hooey, and Casey Serin's latest, repeated comments about exploring bankruptcy protection (ha!) prove that his actual intent is to get away as unscathed as possible from the financial trainwreck that he and his wife Galina Serin created.
I don't know how I missed this article, but 'lawnmower man' over at ExUrbanNation deserves major credit for bringing it to the forum's attention.
In January of this year, C. Robert Simpson wrote a fantastic article called "Truth or Consequence" in the Scotsman Guide. It is an incredibly insightful piece on mortgage brokers' role in the subprime lending meltdown, and I found myself nearly breaking my neck by nodding so vigorously in agreement.
I have been arguing with friends and family members for several months now that mortgage brokers should be held accountable (with buyers, of course) for non-performing, no-documentation subprime loans. The reason is that they are charged with vetting a potential borrower on behalf of the financial institution.
The bank trusts that when mortgage brokers approve a borrower as a good risk that he or she actually is. Did any of these greedy bastards ever think about why subprimes often paid a heftier commission? Because finding performing borrowers in this category is tough. Any asshole can give a loan to a crackhead, so to speak. Simpson agrees (although in a less profane tone, of course), saying:
Some months ago, I attended a loan-originator luncheon, where a speaker from the
FBI gave a presentation about the latest mortgage frauds and prosecutions. The
agent said that if a stated-income loan shows an income of $10,000 per month and
the borrower's actual income is much less than that -- say, $5,000 per month --
then it is fraud, and the FBI would prosecute it as such.
The loan originators were incredulous. One broker stood up to say, "But lenders created stated loans so we could state whatever income would get the borrowers the
loan."
If I read his facial expression correctly, the FBI agent couldn't believe what he had just heard. There ensued a lively give-and-take between the agent and the loan originators regarding the intent of stated loans.
Simpson included Casey Serin in his article, and there is a very telling bit in it that should keep Casey and Galina Serin up at night with cold sweats of fear. Because it's such a huge fucking smoking gun that you can almost hear the prison doors clang as you read the article.
Of Casey and Galina Serin's eight properties, Simpson states:
On six of the properties, he received cash back at closing. The largest check he
received was for $50,000. The cash was paid to a bogus company,
controlled by a third party. It was then funneled back to Serin. In all other escrows, cash was paid to the seller, then back to Serin after closing.
Wh..wha...WHATTHEFUCK?!?! This certainly clarifies the "INTENT" question. Holy shit, we've got shell corporations, an undisclosed third party....Look here, little Casey Serin--this goes way beyond "I didn't know it was wrong," which is something you've always claimed.
This demonstrates some serious intent to defraud. And since there are already hundreds of thousands of people in America who are calling for Casey Serin's head, there's just no way that the proper authorities can (or should) overlook his theiving ass. Same goes for his wife Galina Serin.
If you have joined the ranks of the people who are fed up with Casey Serin and Galina Serin still being allowed to walk the streets as free people, feel free to contact the following folks to express your displeasure.
You can report mortage fraud via the following:
FANNIE MAE
1-800-732-6643
mortgagefraud_tips@fanniemae.com
FBI
FBI Online Tip Form
Sacramento Field Office (916) 481-9110
SACRAMENTO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY
Real Estate Fraud Unit (916) 874-9045
Special Investigations Division (916) 874-5897
9 comments:
who
I know. I read that Scotsman article too and was quite appalled.
At any rate, what young Casey fails to understand is that personal intent (e.g. - I never intended to defraud) is irrelevant in a democratic society. Whether you personally intended to or not, so long as the law is accessible (e.g. - you can get to the wording), you can be punished to the fullest extent of that law should you violate it. Its your obligation, as a citizen of a democratic country to search out the law and its meaning before you act. Its not rocket science, or brain surgery; its due diligence.
Hi Schnapps... I was really curious to know where Mr. Simpson had sourced that little nugget o' goodness. His response?
"As for where I got my information, I called him and asked him. Simple, no?"
Wow...Casey's going to make it easier than we ever thought for the prosecutors!
Aspeth,
I think that Casey has gotten to the point where he's a bit of an attention hound. He found out the attention can get him some stuff with little effort. So when someone like the Scotsman publishes him? That's almost better than money in the bank for him.
Oh, I think Casey Serin has been an attention whore all along--back to the days when he first started blogging and said, I want to do this without regard for anyone else's feelings.
Even he knows how bad this admission is, though. As media-hungry as he is, he didn't mention this particular article for quite awhile, as his traffic is dropping off.
Of course he's an attention whore. Galina is probably not giving him any.
Attention. Of any sort, that is. So whoring himself out to random strangers will have to suffice :>
And of course he didn't mention the Scotsman article - it's quite a good piece, puts the blame on Casey and clearly points out the fraud he committed.
Ok, off to wine country for the weekend to visit quasi-inlaws and buy a case of my favourite wine. Maybe two. When we buy a case directly from the winery, we get 15% off :> And its organic. :>
Ooooh...when you get back, you'll have to tell me which part of the wine country you were in. I know--the 'discount' always spurs me to spend assloads of money at the tasting rooms. Well, that, and the fact that those one-ounce pours can add up pretty quickly. Thanks for stopping by on your way out...have a great trip!
Oh, I live north of the 49th in beautiful British Columbia. The Okanagan Valley is our wine country :) Although, I do enjoy Ravenswood out of Napa(I think? Somewhere in California, anyways). They actually organize "winery hopping" tours throughout the valley here.
There's a nice little winery in Kelowna called Summerhill which does all organic wine (and a very nice Cuvee, unfortunately, I am allergic to the yeast in it). Their Pinot Gris and Eherenfelzer are to die for. The Gewurtzraminer is pretty good too.
And quite honestly, the only thing better than the 15% off regularly are the Boxing day sales. Buy one, get one free. HA.
At the inlaws now, using their internet and my laptop :>
Hi Schnapps...Sorry I missed your last comment. Suffice to say, I'm desperately jealous of your environs. BC is breathtaking. I can't believe the buy one/get one Boxing Day sales--I'm drooling at the thought!
There are some really extraordinary wines that come out of that region. Honestly, that sounds like a fantastic holiday weekend!
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