A Whistleblower’s Tainted Defeat: CA Appellate Reversal Paves Way for Continued Bank Retaliation

Posted on May 20, 2014 by Yves Smith

Yves here. A key element that this post’s author, whistleblower Michael Winston, does not mention is that he played an important role in the PBS documentary The Untouchables, which is probably best known for the scene in which Lanny Breuer said he stayed awake at night worrying that he might be hurting banks.

By Michael G. Winston, who served in executive positions for five Fortune 100 companies across three industries (high technology, aerospace and financial services) and has been included in several “Top Business Thought-Leaders” lists. He took a strong and visible stand against the malfeasance he witnessed at Countrywide

I have been called the whistleblower who “conquered Countrywide” by Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Gretchen Morgenson of The New York Times. I have also been referred to as “Wall-Street’s Greatest Enemy: The Man Who Knows Too Much,” by the PBS show Moyers & Company and a revelatory article by David Dayen in Salon.

However, I do not feel like a conqueror at all. I feel like a victim who has been repeatedly re-victimized by a system that allows legal loopholes, misrepresentations, and fraud on a trial and appellate court. On May 8, 2014, I was informed that Bank of America, a $100,000,000,000 company with over $2.2 trillion in assets, has placed a lien on my Thousand Oaks home for $96,523.29. Ironic that this is the home I purchased to which I relocated my family when accepting a position for which Countrywide aggressively recruited me. This continues the retaliation that I have experienced by Countrywide and successor BAC for over 7 years. My offense? When they defrauded and abused employees, homeowners, shareholders and taxpayers, I stepped up and challenged them vigorously and took them to court. I won a convincing legal victory. Somehow they found a way to have my strong jury verdict and judicial ruling reversed in my absence (there was no new evidence) and now I must pay this behemoth’s court costs including nearly $65,000 for a bond that was ordered by the court, not requested by me.