The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "federal bank fraud" ...
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Grave Mistakes
An investigation showing how the database of deceased Americans created in 1980 under the Freedom of Information Act accidentally lists thousands of Americans as deceased, suffering frozen bank accounts, refused credit cards, denied student and mortgage loans, or arrests for suspected identity theft. It also exposes how identity thieves have learned to use the filed to commit numerous acts of identity theft for tax fraud.
Tags: identity theft; deceased; federal records; tax fraud
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VA Loan Fraud
The series reveals “major banks and mortgage companies across America were systematically defrauding military veterans who were refinancing home loans”. “Federal mortgage documents show there were potentially more than 900,000 veterans since 2001 who could be victims of the scheme”. As a result of this series, veterans contacted their lenders and eventually repaid the charges.
Tags: Johnny Isakson; congressional; hearings; corruption; federal government; Wells Fargo; loan officers; interest rates
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Rise and Fall
Spurred by real estate mogul Solomon Dwek bouncing a $25 million check at a drive-through bank window, the Asbury Park Press investigates Dwek's dealings, and finds that his business may not be as financially stable as it is presented to be. The Press found that Dwek committed mortgage fraud, as forensic experts analyzed signatures on land records, and said Dwek "likely signed the names of other people to $9 million in loans he obtained." His wife had mortgages on three properties she did not own. Dwek, who was arrested by the FBI in the wake of the bounced check, was also found to have received $179 million in loans and investments from banks, mortgage lenders and investors.
Tags: Solomon Dwek; mortgage fraud; false bank loans; federal bank fraud; real estate
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Corporate America's Secret Money Trail: "Dirty Money, Clean Banks" , "The $150 Billion Shell Game", "Homeland Security Pork Barrel"
"These three stories document different ways that the largest U.S. corporations break laws and don't get prosecuted, use secret Cayman Island dummy companies to avoid paying taxes, and place top executives on Presidential Advisory boards that award their companies billions of dollars in federal contracts."
Tags: corporate fraud; taxes; Coke; Intel; Cayman Islands; J.P. Morgan; Wells Fargo; banks; money laundering
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Keystone Bank Series
Messina chronicles the downfall of the First National Bank of Keystone, which was closed in early September 1999 after a federal fraud investigation. The bank, which had been listed as one of the most profitable community banks in the country, apparently listed $515 million in assets that it simply didn't have. Many depositors in impoverished McDowell County, in southern West Virginia, lost money when the bank closed. One couple lost $123,000 of their $223,000 retirement account fund (FDIC covered the remaining $100,000). Later articles revealed the possibility of insider trading by the bank's major stockholders: More than 59,000 shares of bank stock were sold between the time that investigators began a probe of the bank and its Sept. 1 shutdown. "The stockholders who sold their shares got $15 million. Those who bought the stock woke up Sept. 1 with worthless holdings."
Tags: FHA Title 1 loans; FDIC
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Fraud Made Easy
The Courant investigates how common identity theft is, sometimes sacrificing security for convenience. "Credit reporting bureaus, which maintain consumers' credit histories, do little to prevent identity thieves from exploiting the information. For example, credit card companies and banks send out billions of pre-approved offers each year even though the banking industry acknowledges that a portion will be used by identity thieves. . . Credit issuers are not penalized for ignoring fraud alerts. . . Credit bureaus don't monitor consumer profiles for the often obvious signs of identity theft." Despite the efforts law makers have drafted to protect people from this crime, financial industries continue to defend their "self-regulatory" approach.
Tags: credit cards; fraud; Federal Trade Commission; Identity Theft Protection Act; credit bureaus
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The Conman Vanishes
A Seattle man steals the identity of a dead man, Steven Heitman, and vanishes with $1 million, leaving behind a wife and child, two ski shops, an auto dealership, and his partners, two Microsoft millionaires. The con man's real name was James Rowe, who had scammed people not just in Washington, but Utah and California as well.
Tags: stolen identity; scam; social security number; bank fraud; military records; bigamy; U.S. Marshalls Most Wanted List; embezzle; Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); bankruptcy
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Carlos Hank's NAFTA Bank
The Texas Observer takes a critical look at Carlos Hank Rhon, the Mexican owner of Laredo National Bank, and at how the bank is consistently running into problems. "It is evident that the real action in Washington, where the Federal Reserve Board is attempting to take Laredo National Bank from its owner...Attorneys in the Fed's enforcement division have built a detailed factual case again Hank Rhon, alleging that he played an elaborate shell game with bank share and lied about who owns Laredo National Bank."
Tags: Laredo National Bancshares vs. Richard Christopher Whalen; Bank Holding Company Act; Bank fraud/scandals
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The Investigation of First USA
WFAA-TV reports about "gross corporate dishonesty, a federal investigation, the abrupt resignation of 3 CEOs from two of the largest financial institutions in America, and perhaps billions of dollars wrongly taken from millions of credit-card consumers... At one time, First USA bragged it was the largest credit-card company in the United States with nearly 70 million customers.... Last year, industry analysts estimated one-third of First USA's annual revenue came from the penalties and interest rate hikes it assessed against customers - an amount totalling nearly $20 billion...."
Tags: VIDEOCLIP TAPE TRANSCRIPT payment processing; fraud; OCC; Bank One; accounting practices
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No title (id: 13416)
The Washington Monthly investigates how credit card companies twist the truth, promising pre-approved credit to everyone and then denying some customers real gold cards. Many credit card companies are semi-honest, telling customers their cards are "conditional"; however, some companies blatantly lie in their quest to attract more customers. The practice continues because most banks, unlike other marketers, do not have to answer to the Federal Trade Commission for unfair advertising practices. (July/August 1996)
Tags: Hodges Deceptive advertising; Consumer fraud FTC FTIC Federal Reserve VISA Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Narrative 4 pgs.