Saturday, March 26, 2011

The Strange Case Of Charlie Engle:Imprisoned For Taking A Liar Loan

A big tip of the hat to Joe Nocera from the NYTimes for bringing attention to the Charlie Engle story, In Prison For Taking a Liar Loan. It is scary to read about what government bureaucrats will do once they put a person in their cross-hairs. The Nocera article is a great read. Given Engle's past association in film with Matt Damon, I wouldn't be surprised to see this in motion picture form.



Long story short, Engle used "stated-income" loans to speculate on real-estate during the bubble period of 2006-2008. He ended up paying the price of foreclosure, yet on top of all that he ended up being prosecution by the Feds for mortgage fraud. He is now serving a 21 month sentence in a Federal Pen. If anything good can come out of this, perhaps Engle's fortitude and benevolence can serve as an inspiration to not only his fellow inmates, but also to us on the outside. His blog is worth a regular read and a bookmark.

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