Shawn Portmann and Pierce Bank

Well like the clock on the wall in this pic time doesn't sleep for those evolved that harms individuals, communities and a nation's for that matter. Mr. Shawn Portmann was one of the nations highest producing loan officers that worked at Tacoma-based Pierce Commercial Bank in Washington state, in 2012 The Advocate gave Tacoma the title of "Gayest City in America", in part because of the large diversity of public offices held. This indeed is a beautiful area but so much can go wrong when you think it's OK for you to have fun when you know damn well you're doing wrong.

The FBI along with the IRS investigation showed Portmann was (sentenced to 10 years) leading a scheme that saw hundreds of loans issued to unqualified borrowers. Which Pierce Commercial Bank failed on behalf of its mortgage lending practice. Portmann along with two other lending officers launched Pierce Commercial Bank residential lending arm, PC Bank Home Loans in 2004, generated nearly $1 billion in home loan applications for the bank over several years. Two of his associates, Adam S. Voelker and Jeanette R. Salsi, have already pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Among those convicted in the scheme were Portmann's supervisor, Peirce Commercial Bank Vice President and Residential Lending manager. Portmann had help, of course, Portmann's loan processors handled the "fixed" loan applications, while his underwriter's stamp of approval cleared the loans for secondary sale. Like many banks in this hay day they bundled the loans and moved them out to other financial institutions, they were not worth the paper they were written on. The loans were doctored with fake employment, money that was placed in accounts and later removed to show that the borrower had met the guidelines of the loans.

Now you're going to tell me that Mr. Shawn Portmann and his group are the only ones out there that made this up? This practice is what caused the collapse of many banks, the formula shared here in his conviction was practiced by many or you would not be reading this. Portmann and the rest were indicted in August 2011, just hours before U.S. Attorney for Western Washington Jenny Durkan announced that no criminal charges would be filed against lenders at Washington Mutual Bank suspected of similar misdeeds. While federal regulators pursued a civil case against former WaMu CEO Kerry Killinger, Department of Justice investigators failed to produce evidence supporting suspicions that WaMu employees were illegally padding loan applications. Now Washington Mutual failed in 2008 for mishandling of lending, way else would they file for bankruptcy protection (same as Portmann's game) after the government seized its Seattle-based flagship bank and sold its assets to JPMorgan Chase for $1.9 billion in the largest bank failure in U.S. history.

Regulators shuttered Pierce Commercial Bank on Nov. 5, 2010. The collapse cost the federal deposit insurance fund $25 million. Pierce Commercial Bank's failure also cost taxpayers at least $6.8 million in funds loaned to Pierce Commercial Bank through the Troubled Asset Relief Program - TARP - which have not been repaid.
So to date, Mr. Shawn Portmann is the only one going to jail? This guy only pulled down 1.7 million a year and with 1 billion in loans, he alone is not even the tip of the ice burg here and others get to walk! Oh the web we weave stretches across the globe. But I'll tell ya we all have not heard the end of this, you have to but a face on the lost money and Mount Rushmore is not a large enough face for this greedy practice. 

 This is still going to be damaging to business as a whole, the trust you have in the system simply sucks and it's showing.  Many banks are trying to win back your confidence in them, ah that's not going very well and you folks are doing a good job by not doing business with them. Maybe America needs a new bank, how about by the public for the public the common man, one you could trust. The word trust is going to carry far and long into the future. Tired of bad work ethics it simply doesn't work, what's going to push this over the edge is interest rates will go up.  At that point, you going to hear yet another bubble POP!