Buckshnis Municipal Solutions

Soul of A Scandal

The largest and most costly fraud and political scandal of the Savings and Loan debacle of the 1980’s involved Charles Keating of Lincoln Savings and Loan and the “Keating Five”.

The five Senators were accused of improperly intervening on behalf of Mr. Keating causing the District’s Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB) to back-off. A national examination using specialists, including me, from all Districts place took place and it included the review of the non-insured parent American Capital Corporation (ACC). ACC was used as a vehicle to have customers move their insured life savings to purchase bonds that were not insured. About 23,000 customers were left with these worthless bonds. The federal government was eventually liable for $3.4 billion to cover total losses.

Dick Gordon of a North Carolina’s PBS station known for his “The Story” podcast contacted me for an interview. This particular series was called “Bankers, Brokers, and Bandits” and have a listen.