Author: Justin Lane

In the first trial alleging fraud on the part of banks toward the United States, a Bank of America whistleblower has come forward and testified that the bank had in place a system that could approve a home mortgage loan in 13 minutes. The system could move a loan from submitted from review to “cleared-to-close” in 13 minutes. Opponents of the practice claim that there was no way for the process to properly evaluate the validity of loans, according to Bloomberg. Representatives of the bank claim that the process properly vetted loan applications and that no misrepresentation had been...

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Video Rewind NRA Lobbyist Shoots Elephant in the Face, Likens Critics to Hitler On Wednesday, The Raw Story reported that a National Rifle Association (NRA) lobbyist walked up to an elephant and shot it twice in the face on the NBC Sports network show Under Wild Skies. Now gun lobbyist Tony Makris is calling his critics “animal racists.” … Read more. JPMorgan Chase Rips Off Customers, Ordered to Pay Millions The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), brainchild of Democrat and economic progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren (MA), has ordered...

Fresenius, the German drug company and manufacturer of the dialysis product GranuFlo, received another letter from the FDA warning that the practices at its facility failed to adhere to safety standards. This is the second such letter that a Fresenius subsidiary received this year. Earlier this year the FDA issued a letter to a Fresenius subsidiary located in India warning them that practices at the plant failed to prevent and detect problems with quality of their product. The warning letter is available in full here. The most recent warning letter was sent to a Fresenius subsidiary located in Puerto...

Bank of America will be heading to trial to answer for allegations that it defrauded the U.S. government organizations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through Countrywide via its “Hustle” program. According to Reuters, the government filed suit in 2012 and has claimed that the banking group is responsible for losing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over $1 billion as a result of the groups underwriting mortgages that eventually defaulted. This is the first trial to bring any major bank forward to answer for its involvement in the United States’ financial crisis. “The people deserve to be compensated by those...

Below are Ring of Fire’s top stories from the past week. Video Rewind Media Ignores Damaged oil & Gas Tanks from Colorado Flooding As the devastating flooding in Colorado continues, some Colorado residents are wondering why no one is talking about flooded oil and gas wells from fracking. According to several reports and photographs from Coloradans, oil and gas tanks are tilted and, in some cases, overturned. Residents are deeply concerned about potential contamination. … Read more. Law Enforcement’s Excessive Force is an Epidemic Just this year, the country has seen a rampant plague of violent and excessive force...