A 184-count indictment was handed down yesterday against a group of bankers for falsifying mortgage documents “so that they could earn commissions and fees by ensuring that otherwise unqualified borrowers would receive loans.”

The fraudulent loans were then sold to Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB), after which they were repackaged into mortgage-backed securities and purchased by outside investors.

“We are proud to have contributed to this effort, which to date has produced multiple indictments of individuals who allegedly engaged in this significant fraud scheme,” beamed Steve A. Linick, Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “My office is committed to ferreting out fraud throughout the housing system, and partnering with law enforcement agencies making a similar commitment.”

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance echoed Linick’s thoughts.

“The public must have confidence that when a bank issues a loan that it later re-sells to Fannie Mae, and by extension the nation’s investors, it will engage in honest and ethical practices and follow the rules set by regulators,” he said in a statement. “Loan schemes based on fraud inevitably will unravel, as this one did. Today’s indictment re-affirms our commitment to transparency and straight dealing in the financial markets. We cannot settle for less.”

So are we talking about former Countrywide CEO Angelo Mozilo? Ex-Lehman Brothers chief executive Dick Fuld? Deposed Citi (C) head Chuck Prince? AIG’s (AIG) Ace Greenberg? Stan O’Neal from Merrill Lynch (BAC)?

Not exactly. The feds have nailed Yiu Wah Wong.

Yes, THE Yiu Wah Wong of Abacus Federal Savings Bank in New York City’s Chinatown. Which is sort of near Wall Street.

Not only did Yiu Wah Wong get pinched, the equally underwhelming arrest of someone named Wai Hung Tam — “Raymond” to his friends, apparently — was also announced.

From the DA’s office:

Charged in the indictment is YIU WAH WONG, who served as the Bank’s Chief Credit Officer, Vice President, and Underwriting Supervisor. WONG was the most senior Loan Department manager and reported directly to the Bank’s CEO. Also charged in the indictment is WAI HUNG “RAYMOND” TAM, the Loan Origination Supervisor. According to the indictment, these ABACUS managers trained lower level employees

that the accuracy of loan application information was immaterial; what mattered was making sure that borrowers were able to obtain Fannie Mae-backed mortgages. Managers also encouraged loan officers and processors to be discreet by making sure that the falsified information would be believable in the eyes of the Bank’s regulator, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, as well as Fannie Mae.

Chief Credit Officer Yiu Wah Wong (center)

A total of nineteen people from Abacus Federal Savings have been charged with residential mortgage fraud, securities fraud, grand larceny, conspiracy, and falsifying business records, as well as a raft of related charges; eight have pleaded guilty while Wong, Tam, and nine others will go to trial.

None of the nineteen are names you’ve seen in these pages before. Have you heard of Wen Fang “Fanny” Wang? How about Jie Qiong “Michelle” Nan? Or Chi Fung “Danny” Lau?

Didn’t think so. But “Fanny,” “Danny,” and “Michelle” are, along with their colleagues, accused of representing to Fannie Mae that the loan documents “were accurate and truthful, a prerequisite for purchases made by Fannie Mae,” while they were actually “replete with misrepresentations and falsified information,” which they “often authored … themselves.”

Confidence Boosting?

Will the arrests of loan processors Wai Ching “Alice” Wong and Yuk Yin “Loretta” Lam Cheng, both accused of “helping originators concoct inflated incomes for borrowers,” do anything to boost the record low number of Americans — 15% — whom Gallup says have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the US banking system?

read more:http://nesaraaustralia.com/2012/06/22/government-arrests-bankers-youve-never-heard-of-for-mortgage-meltdown/