Bank of America Accused in Ponzi Lawsuit

[babsbunny]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/28/business/28ponzi.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

By LESLIE WAYNE
Published: March 27, 2009

Bank of America effectively set up a branch in a Long Island office that helped Nicholas Cosmo carry out a $380 million Ponzi scheme, according to a class-action lawsuit filed in federal court.

Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News

A suit against Nicholas Cosmo says he had a bank branch dedicated to his operation.


The lawsuit, filed in Federal District Court in Brooklyn late Thursday, contends that Bank of America “established, equipped and staffed” a branch office in the headquarters of Mr. Cosmo’s firm, Agape Merchant Advance. As a result, the lawsuit contends that the bank knowingly “assisted, facilitated and furthered” Mr. Cosmo’s fraudulent scheme.

[CountAllVotes]

1. why am I not surprised?

Check-out this list of Madoff's "customers". Bank of America and many other places (like CITI and Morgan Stanley for starters) are on this list. And what do we do? We give them money while the investor that didn't know jack about this ponzi scheme sits broke. :mad:

http://www.cbsnews.com/htdocs/pdf/madoff_customer_list.pdf

:dem:

[jillan]

2. Those fucking assholes. I am soooooo fucking pissed at them.

I worked there for 25 years. It was a great place to work until 2001 (hmmm)
But I stayed there for my benefits, MY 401k - even tho I dreaded going to work everyday.

assholes! :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

I am soooo angry.

[bluesbassman]

3. A.P. Giannini is spinning in his grave.

I was with BofA from 80 to 88. Great company, that even during the Depression never laid anyone off. Then the deregulation of the banking industry allowed them to stretch out more and more leading up to the absolute nightmare they are today.

Of course the same can be said for most banks. WaMu was a stellar company at one time.

[CountAllVotes]

4. no sh*t there

I bet no one at BANK OF AMERICA (or who the hell ever they are) even knows WHO A. P. GIANNINI was!

This angers the hell out of me too. My family was devout Bank of America customers for years because of A. P. Giannini! His daughter took over the business after he died but gave it up after not too long.

Gee, I can see why now!


Don't spin too hard A. P.!

:grr: is right!!!!

[CountAllVotes]

5. The A. P. Giannini I remember ...

Giannini's parents were Italian, from Liguria, near Genoa, immigrants to the United States. He attended Heald College, in San Francisco, California. His first occupation was as a commission merchant and produce dealer for farms in the Santa Clara Valley. In that position he found established banks unwilling to take on his or the farmers business. Giannini opened the Bank of Italy in a former San Francisco saloon on October 17, 1904. Deposits on that first day totaled $8,780.<1> An early difficulty to overcome was the San Francisco earthquake of 1906. However, the earthquake actually helped Giannini gain something of a loan monopoly. After the earthquake, he moved the vault's money to his home outside the fire zone in then-rural San Mateo, an 18-mile drive by horse and wagon. The raging fires severely heated the vaults of other big banks which had the money in them. Opening them immediately would ruin the money, so they had to be kept closed for weeks. Because of this, Giannini was one of the few who was able to provide loans at the time. Giannini was forced to run his bank from a plank across two barrels in the street for a time. Giannini made loans on a handshake to anyone who was interested in rebuilding. Years later, he would recount with pride that every single loan was repaid.

By 1916, Giannini had expanded and opened several other branches. In 1928, Giannini approached Orra E. Monnette, President and Chairman of the Bank of America, Los Angeles about a merger of the two financial institutions. Upon finalizing the merger, Giannini and Monnette concurred that the Bank of America name idealized the broader mission of the new bank. The new institution continued under Giannini's chairmanship until his retirement in 1945; Monnette retained his Board seat and Officer's position. Prior to Monnette's creation of the Bank of America Los Angeles network, most banks were limited to a single city or region. However Monnette was the first to create a system of centralized processing, bookkeeping and cash delivery. By diversifying the scope of community that the Bank of America served following its merger, the institution was better prepared to ride out minor, local economic issues.

Giannini is credited as the inventor of many modern banking practices. Most notably, Giannini was one of the first bankers to offer banking services to middle-class Americans, rather than simply the upper class. A September 2008 story, Giannini is credited with inventing the branch bank within the city of San Francisco.<2>

A liberal in a field often considered conservative, Giannini and his bank helped nurture the motion picture and wine industries in California. He loaned Walt Disney the funds to produce Snow White, the first full-length, animated motion picture to be made in the U.S. In the depths of the Great Depression, he bought the bonds that financed the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge. During World War II, he bankrolled industrialist Henry Kaiser and his enterprises which supported the war effort. After the War, he visited Italy and arranged for loans to help rebuild the war-torn Fiat factories.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amadeo_Giannini

:cry:

[jillan]

7. You've got that right!

Actually B of A took over the defunct S&L I was working for (nothing like getting screwed 2x).

In the 90's they were a great company to work for. Stock options, lots of gifts....I received beautiful gifts from them, bonuses.
Then in 2001, all they cared about was sales. The sales goals became ridiculous.
There went the bonuses, the gifts and the raises. Customer service went to hell.
But not my customers. I took care of them inspite of what management said. My customers loved me, management didn't.

Just so sick about my 401K.

[Fleshdancer]

6. holy crap

:wow:

This is big. If indeed BoA knowingly assisted, facilitated, and furthered this Ponzi scheme, then heads should roll.