Online Poker Prosecutor Preet Bharara Goes After Deutsche Bank

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who has become synonymous with the online poker crackdowns of April 11, is now going after a new target.  On Tuesday, his office at the U.S. District Court in Manhattan sued Deutsche Bank.

According to Time.com, the lawsuit contends that “the bank committed fraud and padded its pockets with undeserved income as it repeatedly lied so it could benefit from a government program that insured mortgages”.

They are also looking to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in insurance claims that the government has had to pay on defaulted mortgages over the past few years.

The alleged fraud was carried out by MortgageIT.  Deutsche Bank purchased MortgageIT in 2007.

At a news conference, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the bank "repeatedly and brazenly" engaged in a pattern of reckless lending practices for mortgages "that were really ticking time bombs," sometimes failing even to verify that a mortgage applicant had a job. "In fact, they often seemed to treat red flags as if they were green lights," he said.

There was not “criminal intent” present and therefore the US Attorney’s Office could only file a civil suit against the bank.

"Every lie is not a crime," he said.

A Deutsche Bank spokesperson advised Time.com that “The claims against MortgageIT and Deutsche Bank are unreasonable and unfair, and we intend to defend against the action vigorously.”

- Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher