![]() ![]() ![]() Sung makes him believe in the survival of some shred of the American dream, an ideation that the film indicts and endorses in equal measure. This is especially true when Abacus’s fate is compared with, as James does, all of the high-flying operators who are not indirectly responsible for the disaffection and greed that led to our current political predicament, and who escaped the market meltdown of 2008 unscathed-with multi-billion-dollar tax bailouts to boot.Īt one point, Don Lee, a community activist, tells James’s camera that Mr. The filmmakers have asked that the end of the film (though it’s in the public record) be kept shrouded, but suffice it to say that it does not arrive without some emotion. Vance, Jr., called accusations “entirely misplaced and entirely wrong” in his on-screen interview. As to what part cultural bias played in Abacus’s downfall (at least one talking head uttered, “These people don’t vote,” and there were some seriously bad optics courtesy of a makeshift chain gang) the district attorney, Cyrus R. (The average rate of seriously delinquent prime loans in late 2009 was 6.26 percent.) If this all sounds boring-there are no bubble bath–dipped Margot Robbies to explain mortgage bonds to you here-I promise, it isn’t. Or that even after the 2008 disaster, the bank’s lending held up: In 2009, just 16 of 4,390 (or one-third of 1 percent) of Abacus mortgages were more than 90 days late. Never mind the fact that, as The New York Times reported during the trial, of the 3,104 loans from the bank that Fannie Mae acquired from Abacus in 2005 through 2009, only nine defaulted. In 2012, the Manhattan district attorney’s office indicted the bank and, eventually, 19 of its former employees, branding Abacus “a criminal conspiracy fueled by greed.” The Sung family suddenly plunged into a nightmarish court battle that consumed five years and $10 million. “The tactics they used were clearly targeted to fears that they knew existed in the community.Enter a poorly timed felonious employee (swiftly terminated by the Sungs, who James carefully details taking the correct measures to notify their financial regulators), a district attorney’s office eager to look tough, and suddenly a community bank is halfway between a symbol of the resistance and a signifier of no less than the malfeasance and avarice of the entire international banking system. Could you please come down?’ For a lot of people who do not speak English and who were not born here and who comes from a country that is a police state, that is very intimidating and they will do or say anything to appear cooperative.” “They said, ‘Don’t forget, we can send you back.’ The tactics they used were clearly intended to intimidate,” Jill said. ![]() “You have a DA who was politically ambitious and he's in the financial capital of the world,” there was pressure to respond to the sub-prime financial meltdown, and racism: “if it was not the primary motivator it certainly colored the whole prosecution and how his team approached the weaknesses in the community.” Jill’s sister Vera, a director of the bank, added, “It's a subtle form of intimidation but not so subtle, coming to your house at six in the morning, knocking on your door, gun at their sides, and saying ‘Hi, we would like to interview you. Then why bring a case that was evidently inadequate that 80 charges produced not even a single guilty verdict? Jill said it was a combination of three factors. ![]()
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