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STORIES:
Foreclosure
Auction Scams Face Federal Crackdown - (www.huffingtonpost.com) At the height of the financial crisis, bargain hunters would gather each
week on county courthouse steps to bid on foreclosed properties throughout
Northern and Central California. The inventory lists were long, especially in
hard-hit areas such as Sacramento and Stockton. But the auctions were generally
short affairs — often because real estate speculators were illegally fixing the
bidding process. In the past three years, federal prosecutors have charged 54
people and two companies in three states for bid-rigging during courthouse
auctions of foreclosed properties. Most cases originated in California, the
state with the highest foreclosure rate during the financial crisis. Nearly
identical rings were also broken up in Raleigh, N.C., and Mobile, Ala. Working
in concert, the would-be buyers would appoint just one person to bid on each
property on the auction block, thus securing the "winning" bid.
Minutes after the official proceeding was over, they would then conduct an
auction among themselves, often on the same courthouse steps.
Sacramento
jury returns guilty verdict in nationwide foreclosure rescue scam - (www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com)
After a nearly
four-week trial, a federal jury in Sacramento on Thursday has returned guilty
verdicts in a nationwide foreclosure rescue scam says U.S. Attorney Benjamin
Wagner. Charles Head, 36, formerly of Los Angeles and now a resident of
Pittsburg, Pa., and Jeremy Michael “Mike” Head, 33, of Huntington Beach have
been convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud in connection with the scam.
Charles Head was convicted of four counts of mail fraud, and Mike Head was
convicted of two counts of mail fraud. According to evidence presented at
trial, Charles Head was the leader of a scam that, operating through an entity
called Head Financial located in Orange County, between January 2004 and March
2006 netted more than $15 million in fraudulently obtained funds from scores of
homeowners, many of whom were in California. In February 2008, a federal grand
jury indicted Charles Head, Mike Head and 14 other defendants with violations
of mail fraud, conspiracy to commit mail fraud, and other charges. The grand
jury narrowed the charges in a superseding indictment in 2010. The evidence at
trial established that the defendants solicited homeowners facing foreclosure,
promising them that they would help the homeowners avoid foreclosure and repair
their credit. Instead, through lies, fraud and forgery, the defendants led the
victims to complete transactions that substituted straw buyers for the victim
homeowners on the titles of properties without the homeowners’ knowledge.
Frankfurt
'Blockupy' protesters clash with police for second day - (www.bloomberg.com) German police used pepper spray and batons against thousands of
anti-capitalist demonstrators from the Blockupy movement on Saturday during a
second day of protests in Frankfurt against Europe's austerity policies. Planned
rallies in struggling euro zone members
Spain and Portugal drew fewer
people than expected, but in Germany's financial capital around 7,000
protesters marched with signs reading "Make love, not war" and
"IMF - get out of Greece".
The protest was initially peaceful but small groups of masked protesters then hurled
stones and smoke bombs at the police who responded with force. Several
protesters and police officers were hurt before the action died down later in
the evening. Police at the scene said several arrests had been made, but could
not say how many.
Emerging Market Dominoes to Fall as SocGen Sees Rout - (www.bloomberg.com) The worst month in a year for emerging-market currencies will prove to
be more than a momentary bout of weakness to strategists at firms from UBS AG
to Societe Generale SA who see the Federal Reserve weaning investors off its
extraordinary stimulus. South Africa’s rand led declines among the 24
developing-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg last month, tumbling 11.3
percent. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s Emerging MarketsCurrency Index fell 3.3
percent, the most since it slipped 7 percent in May 2012. Only China’syuan gained, rising
0.51 percent. “For these emerging-market currencies, this is the beginning of a
trend that perhaps is going to be longer and deeper in terms of a correction,”
Tom Levinson, a currency strategist in Londonat ING Groep NV, the largest Dutch financial-services
firm, said in a May 31 phone interview.
Bonds’
Point of No Return About a Standard Deviation Away - (www.bloomberg.com) The biggest monthly loss in fixed-income securities since 2004 has still
left global yields short of the tipping point that would signal a bear market in bonds. Yields on U.S. Treasuries (USGG10YR),
German bunds and Japanese government bonds are about one standard
deviation above their historical norm. Treasury 10-year rates have reached two
standard deviations above the average twice since 2009, and each time the notes
rallied. While sovereign yields at 1.39 percent are above the record low of
1.14 percent set May 2, they are about half the 3.64 percent average of the
past 20 years, based on Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Global Government
Index. Bonds lost 1.5 percent in May after Federal Reserve policy makers sent
mixed signals about whether they would slow the pace of their $85 billion a
month in debt purchases this year. Tame inflation and lower
global growth estimates from the International Monetary Fund indicate
the world’s central banks won’t pull back anytime soon, averting a further
rout.
Turkish
stock market plunges over protests - (finance.yahoo.com)
Turkey's main
stock exchange dropped sharply on Monday, following three days of
anti-government protests. The Borsa Istanbul 100 Index was down 8 percent by
midafternoon as investors worried about the destabilizing effect of the
demonstrations on the economy. Thousands have joined the rallies — the biggest
Turkey has seen in years — to voice discontent with the 10-year rule of Prime
Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Global
economy balanced on a pinhead: Andy Xie - (www.marketwatch.com)
Protesters defiant as Turkey unrest goes into third day - (www.reuters.com)
Protesters defiant as Turkey unrest goes into third day - (www.reuters.com)
Shadow Financier Under Attack Wants Bank Permit: India - (www.bloomberg.com)
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