Minnesotans For A Fair Economy is organizing a March on Wells Fargo today, it's in conjunction with OccupyMN and starts at 3:00 pm at Peavy Plaza (not the Hennepin County Gov't Center).
There's a lot of reasons to be holding Banksters such as Wells Fargo accountable; ripping off veterans is just one.
Last week, The Washington Post had this headline:
Suit alleges banks and mortgage companies cheated veterans and U.S. taxpayers
By Steve Vogel, Published: October 4
Some of the nation’s biggest banks and mortgage companies have defrauded veterans and taxpayers out of hundreds of millions of dollars by disguising illegal fees in veterans’ home refinancing loans, according to a whistleblower suit unsealed in federal court in Atlanta.
The suit accuses the companies, including Wells Fargo, Bank of America, J.P. Morgan Chase and GMAC Mortgage, of engaging in “a brazen scheme to defraud both our nation’s veterans and the United States treasury” of millions of dollars in connection with home loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs.
“This is a massive fraud on the American taxpayers and American veterans,” James E. Butler Jr., one of the lawyers bringing the suit, said Tuesday.
(more)
The Seattle Times (and others) picked up on the story:
Investigation sought into VA loans with 13 major banks
By Steve Vogel -- The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Following allegations in a lawsuit that 13 major banks defrauded veterans out of hundreds of millions of dollars with illegal fees to refinance home loans, the chairman of a Senate consumer-protection panel Wednesday called on the departments of Justice and Veterans Affairs to release any internal investigations related to the suit.
The whistle-blower lawsuit, first reported by The Washington Post on Tuesday, alleges that the banks disguised unallowable attorney fees on refinancing loans guaranteed by the VA. The suit, which was filed in 2006 in the U.S. District Court in Atlanta, was unsealed Monday.
"Yesterday, we learned that abuses of veterans may run even deeper than we previously knew," said Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, chairman of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection Panel and a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs.
(more)
And a Congressman from Iowa is calling for investigations, too:
Braley calls for congressional probe of banks handling veterans’ home loans
By James Q. Lynch/SourceMedia Group News -- October 12, 2011
Rep. Bruce Braley is calling for an investigation of allegations that Wall Street banks have been defrauding veterans and taxpayers out of millions of dollars by intentionally disguising illegal fees in veteran home financing loans.
“If a bank intentionally preyed on veterans who’ve put their lives on the line for this country just to pad their profits, that’s beyond the pale,” Braley, a Waterloo Democrat and member of the U.S. House Veterans Affairs Committee, said.
Braley made his request for a probe in a letter to House Veterans Affairs Committee Chair Jeff Miller and Ranking Member Bob Filner.
more)
Not surprisingly, the Strib has pretty much turned a blind eye on the story, except - as far as I can tell - just one Associated Press blurb.
There is simply no doubt Wall Street Bansksters have been ripping off the 99%ers. If you can, you should march with those demanding accountability from Wells Fargo.
And don't forget: these are peaceful protests.
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OccupyMN.org
mnFairEconomy.org
TakeActionMN.org
(cross posted at MnProgressiveProject.com)