Back in December of 2006, we came across this innocent little article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch about an obvious case of mortgage fraud by a popular high school basketball coach Floyd Irons. Obvious to us, but not to the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
So we emailed the reporter with how the scam works, and HP'ers also sent it in to the FBI. But then time went by, nothing happened, the reporter didn't understand mortgage fraud and wouldn't follow up, and just like Casey Serin and the other million mortgage fraudsters, we figured this would just be another case where crime did pay.
Well, for the first time in the history of this blog, we've got some good news on that front - we got our man, and the guilty are on their way to federal prison, with some hefty fines too. And the FBI in St. Louis should be commended for DOING THEIR F*CKING JOB.
Glad we could help.
One down. Millions to go.
St. Louis Post Dispatch reporter stumbles onto classic mortgage fraud and doesn't realize it
Floyd Irons sentenced to year in prison in mortgage scheme
March 30, 2008
Mortgage fraud case update - the St. Louis basketball coach, the straw buyers and a case of obvious mortgage fraud
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21 comments:
Yes Casey Serin roams free
Keith, I'm no fan of the MSM, epecially after learning about Judith Miller's pitch for the Iraq war. But you can't judge them by the standards of a blogger. This reporter told the facts. He let his readers figure out the rest of the story.
It takes a lot of work and time to build a fraud case that is provable in court.
This should be in the running for post of the year. Not just because this guy got jail time for being a greedy scumbag but because a group of people forced a reporter (and the fbi) to do some relevant work. Good job HP'ers.
Interesting. I spoke to an old friend yesterday who is an assistant DA in a large SE market city. (Not a bubble market). He said the FBI had opened a special office there to deal with mortgage fraud, that they were collaborating with the local law enforcement folks, and that about 30 indictments were going to be unsealed in the next couple of weeks, including several against attorneys that were (allegedly) complicit in facilitating mortgage fraud. Hopefully the hammmers are going to start to drop. Glad my f*king tax dollars are actually paying for something worthwhile.
In the reporter's defence, he was a very nice guy, wanted information on how the fraud worked, etc, but couldn't write the real story for fear of having his paper sued
So in this case, the system worked, blogs working with MSM working with law enforcement
But there are millions of cases of fraud out there. Where do you start?
And why the hell hasn't Casey Serin been arrested, and arrested loudly? If the FBI had done that two years ago, it could have gone a long way to stopping the fraud that is still probably happening today
Floyd is a good coach...but had a lot of talent from which to work. I lived in St. Louis for nigh on 6 years and admit that I enjoy basketball at the high school and college level. I used to visit the old Vashon High School at watch a game or two each year. It was truly a slum...next door to Powell Hall, home of the St. Louis Symphony(most underrated symphony in America)!! If Floyd did the crime, he should pay the fine and do the time. I just made up the pay the fine part. lol I slay me.
These guys are just American Dream pursuers, who have tried tried to be winners by doing whatever it takes, only on a smaller scale than Mozilo, ONeill and Rayne.
The scandal here is that Irons and the other American Entrepreneurs in that scheme have not been offered by the Fed a 2.5%/year loan or a swap of their mortgages for Treasuries. Every American Winner should be rewarded for their contribution to USA capitalism :-).
BTW, I don't know how many of you remember that film, "Glengarry Glen Ross". One amusing detail is that in Europe the title of the film was changed to "Americans" :-).
A YEAR IN CLUB FED IN EXCHANGE FOR A COUPLE HUNDRED GRAND???
BEATS HANGING OUT WITH YOU GUYS...
WHERE DO I SIGN UP???
IF I SIT BY THE WINDOW EACH DAY, I COULD EVEN LEAVE WITH A NICE ORANGE GLOW...
DOPES!!!
Sports is the religion of America.
F*ck Floyd. He was a punk and now He is now a convicted felon criminal. A real credit to his race. Obama and Hillary dont care because as a felon Floyd can no longer vote...
Floyd needed help from Revs.Jesse and Al. Where were they? Maybe messiah Oprah can help? Get Martha to bake you some cookies, as*hole.
And speaking of as*holes, maybe the big house crew will 'enjoy' a fat dumb $90K/yr PE teacher. Bring a pillow with you, fat boy.
Enjoy jail, Dickhead.
I really enjoyed the old responses to the original post more than I enjoy responses to posts today. Responses by HPer's back then were more thought out and had less empty cynicism and sounded less "groupie" than today. Don't get me wrong, I still look forward to reading HP everyday, but we were much more clever back then. Never hurts to stop and evaluate once in awhile.
if you think this is bad, you ought to see what they do with small business loans. there are many schemes similar to this , that are run on sba loans to start up businesses and a lot of it is done by nigerians......
I agree with the "Anonymous" poster who said the comments to the original post were more constructive than some of the cynicism we see all too often now (Dopes and see ya later, dickhead said...).
Those of us who starting reading HP right after it went online were there because on our own we saw the corruption in the housing market. Local/national media just weren't talking about it. That insight meant we brought some perspective (biting, satirical and factual) to our commentary.
Not all, but many late comers, like those who bought homes at the top of the market, are here without portfolio.
I'm not mad at anyone (here). As I've said before, this epic financial mess has dirty hands from the outhouse to the White House. The way we start to get this back to right is when heads start rolling from top to bottom.
Score points for the FBI. If this were a basketball game, we are in the first minute of the first period of the first game in the March Madness bracket. Long way to go folks.
Good work Keith and fellow HPers!
You dare suggest that an Afro-American could commit a crime and wasn't framed by the white man? This is heresy. The dailykooks will now label you as a racist. If he's black, then he was the victim
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Its the white man keepin the brothas down!
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Obama's base.
In the reporter's defence,
Uh, excuse meeee! Keith has become a bloody Brit already by writing defence and sh!t. Ta-ta, mate!
Don't get me wrong, I still look forward to reading HP everyday, but we were much more clever back then. Never hurts to stop and evaluate once in awhile.
I miss some of the old timers who left HP, especially the conspiracy theory freaks, but there was a bunch of Ben's yes-men back then, too. They all flocked to his blog to be bending over to their master while not allowed to dissent from each others canned views.
Keith, although not a perfect guy as you can see by his endorsement of Mr. Empty Suit, follows more the Fight Club style. Much more refreshing than that bunch of yes-men + the oriental trader chick from TX. Pussies!
All that the FBI has to do is follow OC Renter's blog. Lots of goodies there to help bust these scumbags. OC Renter should get a medal from the City of SD or Arnold.
keyser said "Floyd is a good coach...but had a lot of talent from which to work."
And, if he can't find talent within the confines of his district, he goes to Alton to recruit. hahahaha.
Smug Bastard
I wonder if the FBI would reconsider if Casey was still posting and was still the 'world's most hated blogger'?
-BC
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