BREAKING: Bank Of America Guilty of Fraud

This afternoon, Bank of America was found liable for fraud, for actions taken by its Countrywide mortgage unit.

The conviction stems from a system at Countrywide called “Hustle”, wherein flimsy mortgage packages were sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The bank was convicted on one charge of civil fraud. Penalties are not yet known, but speculation is that Bank of America will pay roughly $850 million — which just happens to be the loss incurred by Fannie and Freddie in the Countrywide scheme.

Of course, it’s likely that the bank will appeal, because that’s what banks do:

“The jury’s decision concerned a single Countrywide program that lasted several months and ended before Bank of America’s acquisition of the company,” Bank of America spokesman Lawrence Grayson said. “We will evaluate our options for appeal.”

While the conviction is being lauded as a “major victory” for the Justice Department and the Obama Administration, it bears mention that if the penalty does follow the above guidelines, Bank of America will have gotten off scott-free, paying only what they “took” by defrauding the government and the taxpayers.

In other words, just give back what you took, and we’re good.

By: rhb

Rob is a NYC-based Internet entrepreneur. He's also a businessman and job creator (wait: doesn't demand create jobs?) who understands the sense, and the eventual predominance, of the progressive agenda.