There
is no question the media would have pilloried Rudy Giuliani if he ever
conducted a prosecution of an African American community bank in manner
District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.’s office treated Abacus Federal Savings
Bank. Of course, Vance is a Democrat and Abacus serves the residents of
Chinatown, so the media can’t be bothered. However, documentarian Steve James
delivers a stinging indictment of an unjust prosecution/persecution in Abacus: Small Enough to Jail (trailer here), which opens this
Friday in New York.
Founded
by Thomas Sung to serve the financial needs of the Chinatown community, Abacus
was an American success story. It remains a family business managed by the
Sungs’ grown daughters. Their only real mistake was hiring the duplicitous Ken
Yu, who secretly solicited bribes and exploited his managers’ ignorance of his Chinese
name to falsify loan documentation. When Abacus learned of his malfeasance,
they summarily fired him and voluntarily notified regulators of his activities.
For their efforts, they were indicted by Vance office, who literally paraded them
in front of the media in chain gang-style leg irons. Just who was Vance’s star
witness? The demonstrably perjurious Ken Yu, naturally enough.
Over
the course of the 19-week trial, so many of the prosecution’s witnesses were so
easily exposed in contradictions, the defense actually started to worry the
jury might start to think Abacus was doing business in a milieu of lies. We
hear the jaw-dropping audio accompanying some surprisingly expressive courtroom
artists’ renderings—and the implications are inescapable.
There
was no intent on the part of Abacus to defraud the government. There was no
harm done, because the resulting loans they sold to Fannie Mae continued to
perform. However, Vance and his prosecutors wanted to make an example of
someone, so they chose Abacus, assuming they would not fight back.
Unfortunately, that made life rather awkward for the Sung’s youngest daughter
Chanterelle, who was an Assistant DA in the Vance office at the time of the
indictment.
Small Enough to
Jail is
a shocking expose of prosecutorial abuse and a rousing David vs. Goliath story.
Yet, some critics seem to be a bit lukewarm on it, because they want some grand
statement on the financial crisis of 2008. Yes, the big banks were never
charged with anything, which is hypocrisy, but believe it or not, most movie
critics do not fully understand the circumstances that contributed to the
crisis over the long-term. In 1995, regulators started applying the Community
Reinvestment Act more vigorously, mandating banks take a more “innovative and
flexible” approach to low and middle income (LMI) credit-seekers. The big banks
were indeed innovative and flexible, assuming they would be better off facing
the music for financial irregularities than for discriminatory practices—and the
slap on the wrist they received proved them right. It is unfortunate James does
not make this point, because it is actually exculpatory for Abacus. They did
not need to chase sub-prime business, because they were already primarily serving
LMI loan-seekers.
In
all other respects, Small Enough to Jail is
a sterling example of muck-raking. Watching the case brought by the Vance
office crater into a puddle of lies will make your blood boil. Conversely, the
dignity and perseverance of the Sung family and their employees is inspiring.
They prove you can still get justice when you are targeted by a glory-hunting
DA, if you are willing to spend ten million dollars. James duly gives Vance and
his chief economic crimes prosecutor Polly Greenberg a chance to have their say
(the dissembling is embarrassing to behold).