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I'm surprised that the article isn't answering the obvious question and that nobody here is asking it either: Did he have to pay back the 2 million?
by rsp1984 10y ago
I'm surprised that the article isn't answering the obvious question and that nobody here is asking it either: Did he have to pay back the 2 million?
- restalis 10y agoINAL, but I assume that the bank had to have an explicit agreement for that credit in order to have now a solid legal position. Considering that and that to get these money back they now have to build a case against a lawyer, it's safe to assume that they won't try to do it. They face a costly legal battle and are in a weak position, which means a high risk of just loosing even more money.
- dalore 10y agoIf you borrow $2k from the bank and can't pay it back, that's your problem. If you borrow $2 million from the bank and can't pay it back, that's the bank's problem.
- jdavis703 10y agoIt's actually called fraud, at least in the US, and will be investigated by the Secret Service. If you experience such a windfall in your account, seek written permission from the bank before spending any of the money.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- verbify 10y agoHe didn't find the windfall - they just gave him a large line of credit. You could claim it was fraudulent because he didn't plan on paying them back, but it's not the same as suddenly finding money in your account.
- Bartweiss 10y agoYep, significant difference. I've seen several stories of people prosecuted for spending improper deposits, but presumably a loan - where risk is implied and defaulting is an understood practice - is a different beast.
- jjeaff 10y agoHe seems to be trying to justify his actions by calling it a loan, but I've never heard of a loan where the bank tells you that you can just start over drafting your account and let it go negative, then pay us back later.
- poslathian 10y agoOverdraft lines of credit are definitely a thing and can be arbitrarily large depending on the account holder. My bank keeps trying to sell me this, I don't see why this would be a good idea. Does anyone here use this? Also, one time our old bank erroneously withdrew a 6 figure sum from our operating account which put the balance far in the negative. I was stunned that they covered it and bemused to see a 35$ overdraft fee as the next line item on the statement. The charges were reversed within 48 hours. I scratch my head sometimes at how its at all possible for large banks to make these kinds of mistakes.
- Decade 10y agoI used an overdraft line of credit once, accidentally. Then I turned it off. The bank salesman had sold it to me as “overdraft protection,” and at the time I didn’t know what “overdraft protection” meant, so sure, protection is good, right? I guess what they’re “protecting” you against is the embarrassment of having a rejected transaction. And then they charge the overdraft fee, and a fee for using credit, and more fees until you notice and fix it. And if you’re overdrawing on a debit card, then you’re probably poor and those fees are a substantial burden. It’s one of the reasons I decided to close my Chase account.
- 10y ago
- TheArcane 10y agoIsn't the Secret Service supposed to protect the president?
- geoffpado 10y agoThey actually do both! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#Dual_mission https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Secret_Service#D... The original mission of the Secret Service was investigating financial crimes; protecting people was only added later. They even used to be a branch of the Department of Treasury.
- elcct 10y agoYes, getting suddenly rich and not giving president a cut or at least inviting him for a dinner is a huge insult. Excuse my poor humour :D
- pc86 10y agoThey were a part of the Treasury Department until 2003 (now DHS) and deal with counterfeiting and other financial crimes. I don't know for sure that fraud like this would land in the Secret Service queue and not the FBI but it's certainly plausible. It mostly depends on which specific statute(s) you're being investigated for as to which agency(ies) do the investigating.
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- dragonwriter 10y ago> They are a part of the Treasury Department officially Used to be; but now they are part of Homeland Security.
- pc86 10y agoYou are correct, thank you. Edited to fix.
- jdavis703 10y agoHere's an example of criminal charges resulting from using money where the bank made a mistake: http://kdvr.com/2015/03/10/teenager-convicted-after-spending-30000-mistakenly-deposited-into-his-account/ http://kdvr.com/2015/03/10/teenager-convicted-after-spending....
- rm_-rf_slash 10y agoI've heard that phrase before but with a few extra 0s. $2m isn't really that much for a bank these days. Besides they probably were able to get a fair amount of that back in the stuff the police took.
- mikeash 10y agoYeah, usually $2 million is around the amount where you have a problem. It's when you owe the bank $2 billion that the bank has a problem.
- Retric 10y agoYep, our next president was over 1 billion in debt which is oddly enough a powerful position to be in as they really don't want you to default. PS: This is where cash flow is so important. If you have debt of 10 billion and assets 'worth' 9 billion but can make debt payments then it's not yet game over.
- EGreg 10y agoYep amazing how he turned it around. I remember a trailer for a documentary on it somehow.
- mywittyname 10y agoHe bought 40 Wall Street for $10MM (in loans), put $40MM into renovations (money which came from loans) and it's now worth $600MM. I too could become ultra-wealthy if someone were to give me a ton of money to buy assets at well below market value.
- EGreg 10y agoWhy was it that cheap for him?
- ensignavenger 10y agoI was once advised that if you are going to drown, it is better to drown in the ocean than a mud puddle.
- sonabinu 10y agoI am actually wondering how this article is so blog like and still made it onto bbc and makes you think it has some journalistic thought given to writing style and content
- Symbiote 10y agoIt's in their "magazine" section.
- tim333 10y agoWell he can't have paid the 2 million back as he has no money. I imagine he'll declare bankruptcy.
- mkj 10y agoThat'd be my thought. Bankruptcy might slow down becoming a lawyer? Not sure.
- stemc43 10y agoit's an unsecured debt. Pretty sure he doesn't have to pay it back if he declares bankruptcy.
- FireBeyond 10y agoNo, he means that in many locales, bar associations have criteria of 'moral character', that 'declaring bankruptcy' may, or may not infringe upon.
- stemc43 10y ago> criteria of 'moral character' morals for lawyers? unbelievable...