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David Dayen writes in the New Republic:

OneWest accomplished these foreclosures through fraud. Erica Johnson-Seck, a vice president of foreclosure and bankruptcy for OneWest, explained in a July 2009 deposition that she “robo-signed” 6,000 foreclosure-related documents per week, spending just 30 seconds on each sworn affidavit that attested to the veracity of all relevant information in the case. Johnson-Seck admitted to not reading the documents before signing them, to not knowing how the records were generated, and to not signing in the presence of a notary, all of which made the affidavits she signed false evidence in court.

As a layperson it seems to me like there are laws against giving false sworn evidence at court. Those laws that call for criminal punishment when a person breaks it. Is there a legal reason why Erica Johnson-Seck and similar bank officials who engage in those practices haven't faced criminal prosecutions?

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  • This question is confusing: The title asks about fraud or forgery. What was forged? You note that she did not sign in the presence of a notary, which would tend to be exculpatory: I.e., she did not swear to their veracity before a notary. (Makes them inadmissible for the purposes of foreclosure, but makes her not guilty of perjury.)
    – feetwet ♦
    May 14, 2016 at 14:13
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    You are right that forgery was not involved, but fraud charges might have stuck if they'd been brought. The foreclosure documents required the submitter to attest that they had proper documentation that they were the holder of the mortgage and that they had personally reviewed the documentation to ensure that it was in order. In multiple instances the bank had no such documentation, so she couldn't have reviewed it.
    – Charles E. Grant
    May 14, 2016 at 15:49
  • I think the word you are looking for is "prosecuted".
    – Nate Eldredge
    May 14, 2016 at 17:19

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