Finally, Fair
Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Monday, July 14, that Citigroup will pay a whopping $7 billion penalty for its role in hawking risky mortgage-based securities.
Holder called $4 billion of the total a record civil penalty and appropriate given the strength of the evidence. In addition, Citibank will pay $500 million to state attorneys general and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, with another $2.5 billion being dedicated to helping citizens still struggling with financial problems due to the 2007-2009 fiscal meltdown.
Holder also said Monday that Citigroup knew of serious and widespread defects in the products they pushed, termed the bank’s behavior egregious, and stated that Citi has admitted to its misdeeds in great detail.
Even with that, Holder wasn’t finished. He went on to state that Citibank’s taking these actions allowed the firm to pad its own financial position. The Attorney General concluded by observing that Citi did so at the expense of millions of ordinary Americans and investors of all types, including other financial institutions, universities and pension funds, cities and towns and even hospitals and charities, and that such investors suffered billions of dollars in losses due to the bank’s fraudulent claims.
We in the 47 percent (or 99 percent, depending on how one views the income inequality question) have been waiting for this for a long, long time. Finally, the fat cat malefactors have been not only caught but punished.
***
To submit a blog to Union Matters, e-mail it to bstack@usw.org. Keep it to 250 words or fewer. You MUST include your full name, hometown, and state. You may attach a photograph of yourself. Please include a phone number. This WILL NOT be published. Posting any given blog is within the discretion of the USW. No blog using foul language (this is a family site), false information (we don’t want to get sued), or unnecessary personal attacks (again, we don’t want to get sued) will be used. Wait a reasonable period of time, then blog again!
