With all the postings and subject matter I have shared it has become painfully obvious the greatest displeasure and concern comes from the abuse and fraud in the handling by our County Officials of the Santa Barbara County Pension Fund. I must be honest here even though I share these concerns it is the disregard for all laws and procedures that truly amazes me. Yet I also know that with out the interest and support of a community I will never obtain what I am after. So in this posting I hope to truly make a statement with the efforts of my research in regards to what seams to be on the minds of our county residents. In one portion of this posting we will deal with the accountability over several years of the Pension Fund. Now what I start with seldom resembles what I finish with. The reason I mentioned the responsibilities and power of a jury yesterday was to set up my next review in regards to our Superior Court and several controversial out comes by local jury trials, but that will have just have to wait. So than what can one person really do about any of the corruption we are trying to expose? What effect can one really hope to have in creating lasting change? What should one consider right or what is wrong, legal, illegal. What is to be considered moral or unmoral and just who is to judge all this for us? Well I will tell you who it is not. Not now nor will it ever be our Federal Government, no that responsibility and duty belongs to all of us. I am so committed as to what I am doing here right now today and in moving forward knowing that I truly have the opportunity to make a difference. Is this what one must go through in order to achieve the unachievable? I have said many times before who is to say my goals cannot reach the same effects on every day society the same as a soldier, a school teacher or policeman true hero’s that influence our daily life. Just 6 short years ago I was a married man with two sons that I was and am still so proud of. I loved there mother an thought us to be blessed. I have never been a man to be jealous of others success or there possessions. Yet regardless of all that I hold true and in my heart it was taken away from me and here I sit confused. I would much rather my blog and postings were done as a proud parent and shared the accomplishments of my children.
“McDONALD’S® ANNOUNCES GLOBAL OLYMPIC CHAMPION CREW TEAM
FOR 2004 ATHENS OLYMPIC GAMES
McDonald’s today released the roster of top-performing crew who will represent their countries as part of the 2004 McDonald’s Olympic Champion Crew Team. They were selected from 1.5 million employees worldwide for delivering “i’m loving’ it™” service and exemplifying the Olympic ideals of teamwork, excellence and being the best. Manny Mendoza, 18, training manager from Santa Barbara, California –survivor of life threatening tumor who credits his McDonald’s co-workers as aiding in his recovery”
“Santa Barbara Athletic Round Table
http://www.zoominfo.com/people/Rempe_George_732782126.aspx?PersonID=732782126&lastName=Rempe&firstName=George&id=732782126&searchSource=page&page=2
Santa Barbara High assistant baseball coach George Rempe presented four seniors at the Athletic Round Table's weekly press luncheon on Monday to honor them for "tearing the cover off balls." Rempe wanted to recognize the four players for their hard work, which includes, literally, tearing the covers off of baseballs. Rempe added: "These four Dons are the types of players that coaches look forward to seeing every day because they work so hard on both on their skills and on the maintenance of the field. . . . They're also the type of people a coach looks forward to giving strong references to in the future because of their strong work ethic and sense of responsibility” End of Story.
Well as you can see my ex- wife and I have so much to be thankful for and proud of. This posting is being cut short because while doing further research on the auditing firm used by our County in the past I found a news story that seams to have some relevance to our current situation. I will try and continue my review of the Santa Barbara County Pension Fund tomorrow and I wonder are criminal charges an option? The concerns seam similar to what was described by Mr. Torell in an article I had previously shared, he was formerly the auditor for Santa Barbara County for 12 years.
“The investigations led to criminal indictments by the district attorney's office of five former members of the city's retirement board in May. On Jan. 6, the U.S. attorney's office announced grand jury felony indictments of three former pension board members, its former attorney and its chief administrator. Three of the recently charged were also indicted in the state case.”
Read the full article at
www.santbarbaracriminalcourtcorruption.blogspot.com
or @
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/government-bodies-offices-government/10581680-1.html
Accounting For A Crisis: City Auditor Leads Overhaul Of Outdated Financial System
Here is the new development I wish to share today.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-05-07/countrywide-kpmg-may-pay-624-million-to-settle-dinapoli-says.html
Countrywide, KPMG May Pay $624 Million to Settle,
May 07, 2010, 3:48 PM EDT
By Henry Goldman
May 7 (Bloomberg) -- Countrywide Financial and KPMG LLP have agreed to pay $624 million to settle a lawsuit that accused the mortgage lender of securities fraud, New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said.
The settlement, if approved by U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer in Los Angeles, would provide as much as $15 million to pensions covering state and New York City workers, fund representatives said today. The funds led the class-action lawsuit against the mortgage lender.
Countrywide exposed investors to “excessive, undisclosed risk” and “violated securities laws by making misstatements and omitting material facts about its policies and procedures” for lending, according to a statement from DiNapoli’s office. The lender is now part of Bank of America Corp.
The New York State Common Retirement Fund, with $129.4 billion in assets, may recover as much as $10 million, said Robert Whalen, a DiNapoli spokesman. Five separate city pension funds, which hold assets of $105 billion, stand to get about $5 million, said Kate Ahlers of the city Law Department.
Countrywide has agreed to pay $600 million and KPMG, an accounting firm, would pay $24 million, DiNapoli said. He is the sole trustee of the state’s pension fund.
Countrywide’s settlement was reported in Bank of America’s quarterly financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission today, according to Shirley Norton, a bank spokeswoman. The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank bought Calabasas, California-based Countrywide in 2008 for about $2.5 billion, Bloomberg data show.
Countrywide Denies Wrongdoing
“Countrywide denies all allegations of wrongdoing and any liability under the federal securities laws,” Norton said in a statement. Information “that plaintiffs contended was not disclosed to investors had in fact been disclosed in multiple ways, including through regular investor forums,” Norton said. She said the lender agreed to settle to avoid further costs.
Countrywide disclosed the “credit risk attributes of the loans it originated and later securitized,” Norton said. The lender attributed declines in the value of its securities to the “collapse of national home prices” and “the crisis in U.S. capital markets in 2007,” she said.
“The settlement concludes the securities class action,” said George Ledwith, a KPMG spokesman.
Judge Pfaelzer may hold a final hearing to approve the proposed settlement in September, according to DiNapoli’s office. The agreement would be the 13th-largest securities class-action settlement in the 15-year history of the Private Securities Litigation Act, DiNapoli’s office said.
Labaton Sucharow LLP, a New York City-based law firm, was the lead counsel for the pension funds. The firm probably would receive about $10 million to cover expenses and about 8 percent of the net settlement amount, Whalen said.
--Editors: Ted Bunker, Pete Young.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net
Todays searches and web pages visited by me.
santa barbara pension fund and Wilshire search
http://www.ustreas.gov/press/releases/tg65.htm
more wilshire
http://www.top1000funds.com/index.php?option=com_ijoomla_archive
kpmg corruption in U.S. pension funds search
sbbt
http://www.neurosoftware.ro/finance/insurance/stock-market/the-downside-of-keynesian-economics-santa-barbara-bank-trust/
kpmg corruption in U.S. pension funds search
http://politifi.com/news/NY-Funds-Reach-Settlement-With-Countrywide-KPMG-604314.html
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment