RELEASE: From Andrew Bennett Spark, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa Economic Crimes
From an insider at Pam Bondi’s administration…
RELEASE:
From Andrew Bennett Spark, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa Economic Crimes
August 8, 2011
Cell: 941.321.5927
I. Introduction
By way of introduction, I have served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Economic
Crimes Division of the Florida Attorney General’s Office since March of 2004, first in
Orlando, and the last 6 ½ years in Tampa. I have been reading articles concerning the
controversies swirling around the Attorney General’s Office with respect to the forced
resignations of June Clarkson and Theresa Edwards (from whom I took over day-to-day
handling of the ProVest investigation), and the employment of Joe Jacquot with Lender
Processing Services, one of the companies at the heart of the foreclosure robo-signing
issues. While I have a significantly different philosophy concerning these cases than
Clarkson, Edwards, and most other homeowner advocates, the people of the State of
Florida are entitled to fair and honest government, independent of personal connections
and powerful interests, and I have decided to speak out.
As an important caveat, please note that the below contains various factual statements,
and asks questions. If I ask a question, it is because I truly do not know the answer, not
because I am implying any particular answer to the question.
II. Former Director of Economic Crimes Mary Leontakianakos now works for
foreclosure law firm Marshall Watson
Joe Jacquot is not the only high-ranking recent member of the Attorney General’s Office
to now be working with a company which has been the subject of one of our foreclosure
investigations. Mary Leontakianakos, who was Director of Economic Crimes until
approximately January 3 of this year has, according to The Florida Bar, taken a job at
foreclosure firm Marshall Watson.
http://www.floridabar.org/names.nsf/0/C1D818F4CF8FA1EE85256A8400081E2D?Ope
nDocument Leontakianakos was centrally involved in the foreclosure investigations
while leading our Division, including the investigation of Marshall Watson:
http://www.abc-7.com/Global/story.asp?S=12968488
It appears that Watson and/or Leontakianakos have been secreting her employment from
the public. By using a personal email address as her contact email address rather than the
Marshall Watson email address suffix MarshallWatson.com, Leontakianakos has been
able to avoid search functions which would reveal her affiliation. It is through the use of
email suffixes that one may search the Florida Bar’s database for former employees of
the foreclosure firms under investigation. In addition, Watson has taken down the
portion of his website showing the attorneys in the firm; it appears to be the only portion
of his website that is inaccessible from elsewhere on the firm’s website (interestingly
enough, Watson’s own attorney profile on that portion of the website is easily found
directly from a Google search, and so does Caryn Graham’s, but there’s none for
Leontakianakos)..
As has been widely reported, the Attorney General’s Office entered into a settlement with
Marshall Watson in March of this year. A copy of the settlement agreement with
Marshall Watson is found here: http://myfloridalegal.com/webfiles.nsf/WF/SKNS-
8FAHED/$file/WatsonAVC.pdf Note that Paragraph 4.1 of the agreement requires
Marshall Watson to name a liaison to the Attorney General’s Office. Is Mary
Leontakianakos that liaison? I do not know. However, Leontakianakos’ address on The
Florida Bar website is listed as Fort Lauderdale, and yet a search of the website of the
Broward County Clerk of Court reveals that she has not appeared as an attorney in a
lawsuit in Broward County – ever.
If Leontakianakos is that liaison, would she have been switching sides during the course
of a controversy, Rule 4-1.9 of The Florida Bar states,
“[a] lawyer who has formerly represented a client in a matter shall not thereafter:
(a) represent another person in the same or a substantially related matter in which that
person’s interests are materially adverse to the interests of the former client unless
the former client gives informed consent;”
Of course, the Economic Crimes Division acts in a parens patriae role as a representative
of the people of the State of Florida. Consent of the people of the state cannot
meaningfully be given in such a situation – and judging by the reaction of so many of
people in the state the past few weeks since the Clarkson/Edwards/Jacquot story broke, it
is safe to say such consent by the people would not be given even if it meaningfully could
be given.
The Case Report for the investigation indicates that attorney Caryn Graham is the “point
person” to contact at Watson for concerns about the AVC. According to The Florida Bar
website, Graham is still with the Watson firm. Watson recently hired former Broward
Chief Judge Tobin in a supervisory capacity. Indeed, the Miami Herald reported that
Tobin said he would not spend much time in the courtroom.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/05/18/2222892/browards-chief-judge-resigns.html If
Leontakianakos is not actually the liaison, despite the entry about Graham in the Case
Report, this begs a few questions, one of which is what, if anything, Leontakianakos is
doing there?
The other question that arises is whether Leontakianakos’ hiring by Watson is connected
to the settlement. The settlement agreement does not specify as such; however, I have
been told by someone in my office that in another case some years back, another highranking
individual with Economic Crimes received a job with a subsequent employer out
of settlement proceeds from a case – and the connection between the settlement and the
job was not disclosed. Perhaps tellingly, the Attorney Geneal’s press release concerning
the Watson settlement states, “The Marshall Watson firm fully cooperated with the
investigation since its inception.”
http://myfloridalegal.com/__852562220065EE67.nsf/0/478149A91AA0E2528525785E0
06C1EED?Open&Highlight=0,marshall,watson During her tenure as Director of
Economic Crimes, Leontakianakos encouraged side agreements that were
contemporaneous with but not memorialized in the formal settlement documents
(“AVC”s). Perhaps as some sort of Freudian-like slip reflective of what may be in effect
a golden parachute, on the Bar website Leontakianakos still describes her practice in the
“Occupation” field as “Government attorney.”
The Marshall Watson settlement contains an unusual provision, paragraph 6.1, requiring
the Attorney General to close the investigation upon the execution by all parties. It is
typical for our office to close investigations following execution, and parties do typically
want the public to know that the investigation is closed; what it is unusual, however, at
least in my experience, is for the settlement agreement to explicitly state as such
memorializing the closing as a priority. Why the extra concern? (Interestingly enough,
despite that provision, I should note that the investigation is now open – I don’t know
whether it remained opened or was reopened).
III.Powerful interests have influence
Be sure to check out the entire release below…
Wow…
~
4closureFraud.org
~
RELEASE: From Andrew Bennett Spark, Assistant Attorney General, Tampa Economic Crimes
I just read a blog that said Porvest is interconnected to United States Foreclosure Network, which is interconnected to Fidelity National Title. Come on Florida, help me out. What does Michael Echevarria at Florida Default Law Group, really own? Someone needs to break this story wide open! Yes we can!!!! 🙂
Florida Statute 673.3091(2010) The banks are asking the judge to use old photo copies of the note and mortgage (that are irrelevant to current standing) and backing this up with “take my word for it” if you want more proof. This legitimizes destroying original documents from the past and encourages this behavior in the future by setting up a system to legitimize it. All original notes and mortgages need to be overnighted to an EDGAR storage facility, by the closing agent ( where they never leave). If ownership changes, then a manditory closing agent forwards an allonge to EDGAR and the documents are moved to the new owners file. Banks can’t be trusted with original documents so banks should not be allowed to hold original documents. Just like birth certificates. No robo-signing, no fake notaries, we know the original documents are real and this wouldn’t be happening. If banks can cram down junior loans in foreclosure-why can’t homeowners cram down loans when the deal didn’t work out?
I’m curious to see what the status is today with Pro Vest since he took over the investigation from Clarkson and Edwards , its over 2 months ?
I also read the letter IN IT’S ENTIRETY and it appears that he raises some questions and points some fingers but unless he is willing to do more than just “speak out”, all it accomplishes in MHO is that it proves to everyone involved that apparently people in government offices A: read Internet articles and blog posts, and
B: have a concience about their own wrongdoing if they are forced to see how badly they are affecting the lives of others with their own behavior. The whole reason than banks have treated borrowers with disdain and been so unwilling to act in good faith is because they’re insulated from the real pain and suffering as the freaking sociopaths that they are. If Jamie Dimon gets jail time, which I hope he does (and it looks like he will, hooray, hooray!) I think they should make him pitch a tent in the prison exercise yard and see how he likes living the way the families he’s directly been responsible for forcing to live this way do it. No running water, no electricity. No designer bathroom or Chateau LaFite for the bastard, either. Make him FEEL it. I hope they strip search and hose him, too. We need to write to the prosecutor and demand that Dimon go to regular prison, not a halfway house, or a luxury home where you wear an electronic ankle bracelet and life goes on as usual like that cheatin’ bitch Martha Stewart. If he doesn’t like cell life, he should have thought of that, earlier when he was stealing the homes of families, stealing the pension funds of retirees, and cleaning out all the gold in Fort Knox. America needs to remind Jamie that even rich people can’t operate above the law.
This is the same message we need to send to the corrupt folks there in Florida, who treat borrowers with disdain and block their constitutional right to due process. Judges occasionally go to jail, Attorney Generals go to jail, and the more of them we sentence, the sooner this whole situation will be resolved.
Keeping people in their homes should supercede anything else on the table, then jail the crooks.
Seriously? This entire 16 page diatribe sounds like “sour grapes” as a employee.
… And when are all of you (us) going to protest in Tallahassee? 70 people won’t do. You (we) need 10,000 to 100,000 people around the building to even get noticed by the the (mostly bought and paid for) Florida legislators and (mostly corporately controlled) media.
If this isn’t corruption, it is at least taxpayer money waste and inefficiency.
Is INTENTIONAL waste and ineffeciency of the taxpayers’ money a form of corruption – or merely incompetance?
Either way, Pam’s got to go. She should be made to resign. This will send a message around the country for the citizens, taxpayers and property owners, around the rest of the country, to TAKE BACK THEIR GOVERNMENTS from the corporations.
…Or, it’s already too late???
The American people are lazy, ignorant, and oblivious. They will ONLY rise up in protest when they are starving and have already lost everything.
PS – then it is too late.
@ Rob – Hey I’m all for marching! I have tried to get people motivated in that direction on this site. If we could get groups going like the ones they have (Happy Hour) with the founders of this site in Ft. Lauderdale. That way, we could communicate amongst the various groups and set it in motion. We need some organizers – is that you? Did you say you were in Tallahassee? I know of the whereabouts of some of the people on this site. I’m in Pinellas but I don’t think there’s anybody here in my neck of the woods. I could get a list started if posters would send me their email addresses and where they are located. I’m @ bobbiswann@juno.com
Hey Liz in Sarasota….you game? Incognito123 in Charlotte county…you game? There must be others….
YES I AM BOBBI!!!!
Spark is obviously a big burn. It seems that a protest march on the AG’s office is in order. All of this sniping from the sidelines is useless.
After reading his letter IN ITS ENTIRETY, I agree with others on this post. This guy does bring a few things to light, BUT IT’S CLEAR that he doesn’t undestand the true meaning of FRAUD…especially when it deals with our court system. If someone out there is a reporter, PLEASE interview this guy, and hold his feet to the fire, in terms of answering the tough questions about the “technical issues” committed by the banks.
The nature of todays mortgage fraud, makes it CYBERCRIME. MERS IS CYBERCRIME. THE EVIDENCE IS IN TRACE RESIDUAL DATA FOUND IN DATABASES LIKE CHOICEPOINT, IRB, KNOWX, TRACERS, ETC.
Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
— P.J. O’Rourke, Civil Libertarian
I smell a rat with this guy..something is NOT RIGHT. Why would he come out with this? I am loving the giant sucking sound swirling around b of a. It reminds me of one of the “Rule of Holes” which says that if you dug it.. now you get to lay in it..
I am in Orlando and three and a half years into our foreclosure case. ( Second one by the way) . The nice folks @ FDLG are representing the plaintiff in our case. I’m wondering how much cronyism goes on between Bondi’s suits and those at FDLG. Would love to be a fly on the wall @ one of their happy hours..
I follow Matt Weidner’s blog like a mad man, and I agree with Matt that I think it’s only a matter of time until this violence we all watch around the world will be right here in our own back yards. I like the idea I read somewhere that everybody needs to stop paying everything for a while..a moratorium if you will. Then watch all these crooks squirm…
Good letter. He’s new to the foreclosure fraud fiasco; as he learns more I’m guessing he’ll come to realize the parroted “technical defects” line is garbage; a coordinated PR campaign to marginalize the problem. Especially w/ an MBA from Wharton; he should be able to pick up and understand the problems — banks trying to collect on money they never lent, banks hiding who really did lend money, banks working to collect double-payout windfalls on breach of contract cases, routine perjury, securities fraud, fouled property records — substantially faster.
Also, the other consumer complaints are important. One thing diving into foreclosure fraud has done is convince me that the issue is in a rush to deregulate lousy businesses a message that “anything goes: all consumer protection laws are void” This message allows crooked businesses to run over legitimate one’s, breaks the public’s trust when dealing w/ legitimate or illegitimate business, and puts the US on the road to being a third-world country.
I disagree. I think this MBA from Wharton says exactly what he means to say.
He has a “significantly different” philosophy from Clarkson and Edwards and homeowner’s advocates, and then goes on to say that he is “diametrically opposed” to “people like June Clarkson” who want to let people out of their mortgage.
He means to say that what we’ve determined is FRAUD are merely “technical defects.”
He’s proud of Pam Bondi for taking a stand against reducing mortgage principal.
It’s good to know more about the shady shenanigans going on at the state AG’s office. It’s obvious that the companies under investigation are looking at AG staffers and hiring the whores. OK. But don’t lose sight of the fact that this guy is not our friend. He doesn’t think the outrageous fraud on the court perpetrated by the banks is any big deal. In fact, he is unequivocal: the fraud is just “technical defects.”
READ WHAT HE WROTE. He said EXACTLY what he meant to say. I personally think this letter is a prelude to a cushy position at Lender Processing Services. He’ll fit right in.
Good point Liz………..my take too!
Funny, the biggest Economic Crime is right under your nose, Andrew. Why don’t you write to the Department of Justice and demand criminal charges be filed against Pam Bondi ? Instead of doing the job she was entrusted with by the people of Florida, she screwed them to the wall and traded their “right to legitimate and fair government” for a cushy job as a whore at Marshall Watson. There’s your task, Andrew. Tell the right people when you’re “speaking out”. We want to hear that you’ve reported her to the Florida Bar Association and asked the DOJ to indict her. Then we will stroke your head and say we’re proud of you. If you are the last decent public servant in the state, we will apologize when we see Bondi in handcuffs.
I think Pammy is being careful……to make sure the only crime she is committing is…….looking the other way! Also, the inside look into her life, gives me the impression, repeatedly speaking of how much she misses her life in Tampa………I wonder if she is not setting herself up to resign and eliminate any more trouble working against her career!
“Florida residents will be footing our pension for years”, really . You noted only three cases out of Consumer Fraud Division & all three losing . Incompetence or a outright display of aiding and abetting the very ones your paid to investigate by Florida residents . Florida residents deserve better is a understatement . We are demanding better ! I applaud your courage, ethics and will . I do hope that you again will do the right thing, if AG Bondi continues on this course .The three in charge of your pension are Aronberg, Bondi and slick Rick , If they still have the states pension in stocks and toxic MBS’s you should open a fraud investigation . Redundant .
Tax payers are not bailing out profits and/or compensation to the same players ……
WOW!
A honest man in government! A lawyer who speaks the truth! I think I am going to faint, i am shocked to see such a open expression of a public servant, in the reporting of improper conduct of public officers.
But what about his next review?
I WANT TO SEE THIS MAN GO FAR.
HOLD ON, Technical issues, you mean the FRAUD!
Sorry I did not read the entire post before commenting. This guy needs to get that brown off his nose, when it comes to dealing with Pam
I don’t think ANYONE read this entire letter before they posted, somewhat understandable in their outrage about that AG gal going over to Marshall Watson & then trying to hide it.
Hey, everyone, READ THIS GUY’S ENTIRE LETTER BEFORE YOU NOMINATE HIM FOR SAINTHOOD.
Ya think??
PLEASE EVERYONE, Forward this article to ALL your local politicians and NEWS OUTLETS!!! This is smoking gun we’ve all been waiting for!!
Took a lot of courage for this guy to write and freely distribute this. Let’s hope some actions some out of it. My experience however is that RepubliCANT and RepubliCON administrations seek to protect those they serve. In this case, not the state of FLA, but the connected businessmen and women of Florida and banks and corporations.
What did he say that was so courageous? No mention at all about all the obvious, rampant fraud!
Whatever.
Yeah, it sucks about that AG gal going over to Marshall C. Watson. I could care less about investigations into shady car dealerships and Lifestyle fitness – I mean, sure, yeah, go for it.
WHAT I DO CARE ABOUT is that Bondi took money from LPS and the top 3 guys at ProVest (and one of their wives, don’t forget!) WHILE LPS and ProVest were under investigation by the state AG’s office.
WHAT I DO CARE ABOUT is the fact that this Jeff Atwater guy, whose office Bondi has tapped to do an “independent” investigation into her firings of the two investigators – Jeff Atwater took money from no fewer than TEN Lender Processing Services affiliates/subsidiaries.
THAT’S what I care about.
This Andrew Bennett Spark guy ain’t no friend of ours.
Read this:
“I happen to revere legitimate, successful businesspeople, and my views on the foreclosure cases are diametrically opposed to those like June Clarkson who favor the idea of letting people out of their mortgage because of technical defects relating to enforcing them. I respected it – tremendously – when Attorney General Bondi initially did not want to negotiate for mortgage principal write downs as part of the settlement of the servicer negotiations. That may or may not turn out to be the right policy to take. Perhaps time will tell. But the job of the Attorney General is not simply to yield to the popular against businesses –there are many factors to consider. There’s justifiable anger these days at the top bankers who earned multi-million-dollar bonuses, but some of our biggest banks themselves are really hurting. Bank of America stock closed yesterday at less than $7 ashare. In 2007, it was over $50 share. Regular working people with modest 401Ks and mutual funds own that stock, and have lost a lot of money on it.”
Yeah, read it again. He just called fraud on the court, forgeries, backdated mortgage assignments, improper notice of service etc. “technical defects.” He was proud of Bondi when she gave us the finger, and he feels sorry for the banks, who are “really hurting.”
Who out there in foreclosure land feels sorry for Bank of America? Can we hear from you, please? Anybody? Holy Mary Mother of God, you want to see some backdated assignments of mortgage? Go look at BofA’s assignments from 2009-2010 and backdated assignments pop up like mushrooms (and we know what mushrooms feed on). At least, Bank of America filed backdated mortgages in Sarasota County – I don’t know what they did in your county.
Mr. Spark, I’ll put my financial situation up against poor Bank of America’s any day. “Really hurting”? You come onto a foreclosure defense website and you tell us that Bank of America is “really hurting”? You want us to break out into a chorus of sympathy for pool little ole Bank of America? You’ve got some nerve.
I’ll close with this quote by Mr. Sparks:
“But the job of the Attorney General is not simply to yield to the popular against businesses –there are many factors to consider.”
You got that right, bub, like: who will donate to my next campaign? As far as I can tell, that’s the only “factor” Pam Bondi gives a rat’s ass about.
translation: andrew bennett spark owns BofA stock and has taken a beating.
“technical defects,” my ass. it is out and out fraud.
that’s a crime.
if you do not want to enforce the law (which is your duty), get the hell out of the way.
Liz – you are so right. He is a whistleblower for the bribery or whatever is taking place there in the AG’s office but he is NO FRIEND OF FRAUDCLOSURE. Personally, I think this is his way of moving up the ladder. You did see how he criticized the experience of those who were appointed jobs that he felt they were not fit to hold, calling them mostly crimminal attorneys with no litigation experience. But, hey, what litigation experience does Bondi have as she was mostly a crimminal lawyer as well but he sang his praises on her! He’s simply using the Clarkson et al episode as an open wound to eliminate those above him (which if his writings are true should be removed from office) but the underlying motive I feel is just a personal agenda for his own benefit – certainly not to furthering the suits for crimes committed against the citizens of Flori-duh in foreclosure fraud. I agree, be very mindful of this person’s motives.
I live in Volusia County and Bank of America filed a post-dated Assignment in my case, which is still fraudulent — especially since it was manufactured by Stern’s office in 2009.
In your spare time, watch the fantastic show called Damages, starring Glenn Close, Rose Byrne, Ted Danson, and a host of other excellent actors…and you will get a very clear picture of how all these corrupt back-door shenanigans take place. The show is set in New York but perfectly depicts how high-powered attorneys and high-level white-collar criminals do what they do and get away with it via settlements and deal making.
None of it is a surprise to me, but the show helps to visualize how this kind of garbage takes place. I watched it on Netflix instant downloads.
This is not an advertisement; I’m a regular person whose house was stolen by foreclosure fraud in 2008 before any watchdogs were paying attention.
I filed my case with the AGs office this past January/February with proof of the fraud. I wonder if there are even copies of my file in the office or if it’s all been long since shredded.
Do they not sign a conflict of interest contract with a do not compete clause?
Probably changing jobs to be closer to home or some similarly reasonable reason.
Funny how the law seems to work one way in this mess isn’t it.
Hopefully that is changing.
I downloaded this in a PDF format and I am sending it to all of my local news stations!!!! How many do you think will take up the issue??????????????? BTW I am in Pinellas County Flori-duh
If anybody cared about the law and the people of florida…..this would not be happening! We need to do something RADICAL……before it is too late and we are all homeless and broke! Stop this now!