Why Does the Manhattan District Attorney Prosecute Small Defendants While Letting Larger Criminals Go?

in politics •  7 years ago  (edited)

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Most movies don’t make me upset. In general, I don’t get emotionally involved because I feel some distance. However, I’m more involved when I watch the news on television. I’m reacting to it, thinking critically, cheering or complaining, and carrying on a monologue about issues. No one in my family likes to watch the news with me.

I was in “news” mode when I recently watched the movie Abacus: Small Enough to Jail. This documentary film from PBS Frontline, which is available now on video (nominated for an Academy Award and highly recommended), shows the unfortunate prosecution of a family who ran a community bank in New York City’s Chinatown. While the big banks received bailouts in the 2008 recession that they helped cause, this small, family-run bank serving the Chinese-American community became the only bank from that recession to be charged with a criminal offense.

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The Sung family, operators of a small community bank prosecuted by Vance, in the "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" movie.

Abacus had stringent loan standards and it had only 1/10 the default rate on loans that the big banks had. Despite having had one employee who had committed fraud, firing him immediately when they learned of it, and reporting this problem to the government, Abacus Bank was indicted on criminal charges. In the years that followed, the family stood tall as they were publicly shamed and dragged through a horrible prosecution that cost the taxpayers $10 million. The movie asks people not to reveal what happened in the end, so let’s just say it was a total waste of $10 million.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. let the big banks go (they received billions in bailouts from the federal government during the 2008 recession and he had ample time in which to hold them accountable for their damage after his election to the DA job in 2009). But he persisted in trying to take down one bank, ruining the lives of this family that had dedicated themselves to helping unbanked immigrants in New York’s Chinatown get loans, start businesses, and improve their lives. This prosecution was racially insensitive and it was disproportionate to the alleged crime.

I’ve rarely been more upset after watching a movie.

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Prosecutors have a great deal of discretion, so it’s not easy to know when they make a mistake by choosing to prosecute or not prosecute one particular defendant. Cases are more difficult to prove than a layperson like me can know. But Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, Jr. has demonstrated a pattern of going after smaller, poorer defendants while the larger ones escape with no consequences for the damage they have caused (and after people associated with them have made payments to his campaigns).

While I like to give someone the benefit of the doubt, this movie finally sealed the deal for me: Vance is a dangerous opportunist. He has not used his office to hold powerful people and companies accountable. Instead he has taken their money in the form of political donations while he’s gone after smaller fish like Abacus.

Vance Had Harvey Weinstein in 2015 and Let Him Go

In 2015, an Italian model named Ambra Battilana Gutierrez reported to the NYPD that she had been sexually assaulted by movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Despite having an audio recording in which Weinstein admitted his action (yes, the NYPD had her wired and it’s on tape), Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., declined to prosecute Weinstein. It was not until late 2017 that the floodgates opened and dozens of women came forward to report decades’ worth of rape and sexual misconduct allegations against Weinstein, one of the most powerful figures in entertainment.

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Movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, the woman who reported an assault from him in 2015. Source: Thetimes.co.uk.

As District Attorney, Vance could have stopped this behavior. It didn’t take the New York Times or the New Yorker much investigation at all to find droves of complainants. Vance failed to bring justice and prevent further crimes even though he had a tape of Weinstein admitting what he’d done. Was there a good explanation for why he failed to do so? Not enough evidence, said the DA’s office. And I’d be willing to defer to their wisdom once on something like this if that was the end of the story.

Unfortunately, it’s not. I hope you brought your bribe money.

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Later, it came to light that Vance’s former law partner, who had contributed to his campaign, was a defense attorney for Weinstein. Also David Boies, an attorney for the Weinstein Company, together with his son and his law partners, had contributed a total of $182,000 to Vance’s election campaigns.

Vance Had a Fraud Case Against Baby Trump and Ivanka; He Let Them Go Also

In 2012, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office was preparing a case for fraud against Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump, children of the current U.S. president. As Vogue reported, “Ivanka and Donald Jr. narrowly avoided criminal fraud charges in 2012 for allegedly misleading potential buyers at the flailing Trump Soho Hotel—because Vance dropped the mounting case after a meeting with Donald Trump Sr.’s personal lawyer, Marc Kasowitz.”

The Trump SoHo project was not going well, but they misrepresented its success in order to con others to buy into it. ProPublica reported that Trump, Jr. had told a real estate publication that 55 percent of the units at Trump SoHo had been sold in April 2008. In June 2008, at an event for the foreign press at the Trump Tower in Manhattan, attended by Eric Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and herself, Ivanka Trump announced to everyone present that 60 percent of the condos had been sold. In fact, the condo was performing badly in a tough market: by March of 2010, nearly two years later, only 15.8% of these condos had been sold.

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Vance's office had a strong case against the Trumps. He dropped it after their attorney apparently bought him off. Screenshot: MSNBC.

But that wasn’t all. Propublica’s report added:
In one email, according to four people who have seen it, the Trumps discussed how to coordinate false information they had given to prospective buyers. In another, according to a person who read the emails, they worried that a reporter might be onto them. In yet another, Donald Jr. spoke reassuringly to a broker who was concerned about the false statements, saying that nobody would ever find out, because only people on the email chain or in the Trump Organization knew about the deception, according to a person who saw the email.
There was “no doubt” that the Trump children “approved, knew of, agreed to, and intentionally inflated the numbers to make more sales,” one person who saw the emails told us. “They knew it was wrong.”

Yes, there are crooks in the White House as well. By now, it should be obvious that the president himself seems to be stuck in middle school. But let’s stick to Vance for now.

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The Manhattan DA’s office had been building this case for two years by 2012 when Cyrus Vance, Jr. decided to end it. As the New Yorker explained, “Vance ordered his prosecutors to drop a promising criminal-fraud investigation against Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr., who were suspected of misleading potential buyers of condos in the Trump SoHo building; the order came after their father’s attorney, Marc Kasowitz, paid Vance a visit. Soon after Vance’s office dropped the investigation, Kasowitz donated and raised a combined total of more than fifty thousand dollars for Vance’s re-election campaign.”

Does that sound familiar? Vance dismissing another case against powerful people when a political donation to his campaign was made. Perhaps it was coincidence and there was a small circle of politically like-minded donors, but given that Vance is a Democrat in New York City who ran unopposed in his last election, it seems unlikely that he was having any trouble raising funds. Again, it stinks of corruption.

Kasowitz later bragged that it was “amazing I got them off.”

Instead, Vance Has Picked on Little Guys

Vance has gone hard after smaller defendants. For example, look how he has targeted people accused of possessing gravity knives. If you don’t know, switchblade knives are illegal in most U.S. states, and gravity knives have a sliding blade that also is capable of being opened with one hand. That makes them dangerous and governments don’t like dangerous. The state of New York has had a law against them. In other parts of the state, people are rarely prosecuted under it, but Vance has made a big point of doing so.

These knives can be used in crimes, but in some neighborhoods, they also are used for self-defense. Guess which neighborhoods those are. Enforcement of this law has had a disparately heavy impact against minorities. In the last 10 years, 70,000 people have been arrested for the possession of gravity knives. Vance has been the only prosecutor in his state who has been persistently bringing charges against these individuals, most from minority backgrounds.

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Here are felony prosecutions for gravity knives in New York City just a 6-month period in 2015, nearly all of them in Manhattan, where Vance is the District Attorney. Source: Creative Commons via Flickr by JV Santore.

At the same time, he has never brought a single case against any of the 100 knife stores in Manhattan, many of which have no doubt been selling these knives to poor people. It’s a familiar pattern: prosecute the little guy and let the money people go free.

“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”

That brings us back to the movie I watched about Abacus bank. After the 2008 recession, the big banks were known as “too big to fail”. Some received bailouts from the government after the subprime mortgage mess they helped create. None were ever prosecuted. In the movie, a journalist describes Abacus, this family-owned Chinese-American community development bank in New York’s Chinatown, as “small enough to jail,” which is a play on “too big to fail.”

Abacus Federal Savings Bank is a small community bank located next to a noodle shop. The Sung family started it because they wanted to help immigrants and ‘unbanked’ small businesses in Chinatown gain access to the banking system. This bank helped people get accounts and loans who had never had access to the financial system before. And its loan standards were so tight that Abacus had only 1/10 the failure rate of most banks.

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High praise for the "Abacus: Small Enough to Jail" movie.

The movie followed the Sung family as they were brought to trial by Cyrus Vance, Jr.’s office for mortgage fraud and other charges. The bank’s fraud seemed to have centered on one employee who was fired after falsifying documents and accepting bribes, an issue that was remedied and disclosed immediately to the government regulators.

The prosecutors also argued that mortgage documents were improper, but using gift letters was quite common in the Chinese community (as it is in others also). There was a distinct failure to appreciate how the culture operated. Abacus was an easier target than the big banks, which had received a free pass. Vance’s office used the employee who had committed fraud as its star witness and he was caught lying under oath.

This prosecution appeared to be a zealous attempt to take down a bank at any cost and score points with the voters. Perhaps the most galling scene in the movie was when the defendants were publicly shamed by being brought into court in a chain gang, held together in a line of chains, supposedly for security reasons. One insider quoted in the movie said that in 25 years, he had never seen anything like that happen in such a case. This was a total humiliation at the behest of prosecutors who were racially and culturally insensitive towards these respected community leaders.

The whole saga was sickening enough that by the end of the movie, I was angry at the television. And I will tell everyone in New York that if I lived there, I would never cast a vote for Cyrus Vance, Jr. for any political office. Even if you happen to agree with someone’s views or if he has done some other good things while in office, those facts cannot justify choices like these. This guy seems like a real opportunist and I was left to wonder how people in New York can trust him as a public servant.

Abacus is a good movie and I recommend watching it. Here is a short intro to the film.

Sources:

Abacus documentary site: https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/abacus/
Business Insider on Weinstein and Trumps: http://www.businessinsider.com/cyrus-vance-harvey-weinstein-audio-trump-2017-10
Contributions to Vance: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/06/opinion/cyrus-vance-contributions-weinstein.html
New Yorker: Why didn't he prosecute? https://www.newyorker.com/news/news-desk/why-didnt-manhattan-da-cyrus-vance-prosecute-the-trumps-or-harvey-weinstein
NY Times: Vance defends decision: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/11/nyregion/cy-vance-defends-weinstein-decision.html?mtrref=www.google.com
Vogue article: https://www.vogue.com/article/cyrus-vance-jr-didnt-prosecute-weinstein-ivanka-donald-trump-jr
Wikipedia Vance: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyrus_Vance_Jr.
Propublica report: https://www.propublica.org/article/ivanka-donald-trump-jr-close-to-being-charged-felony-fraud
NY Times Review of Abacus movie: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/18/movies/abacus-small-enough-to-jail-review.html
Marketwatch story on Abacus movie: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-story-behind-oscar-nominated-bank-documentary-abacus-small-enough-to-jail-2018-02-27#false

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Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. cannot be feeling too good these days. Source: New York Times.

Top image: Creative Commons via Wikipedia by Saffie55. Handshake images and donkey clip art are public domain from Pixabay and Wikimedia Commons, respectively.

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  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Because the system is ruled by the elite. I'm from Croatia and we are battling with the same situation. A month back a man that grows marijuana to treat his multiple sclerosis got 2 years in jail while a nephew of a politician got probation for having 15kg of marijuana....

What frustrates me the most about this is that we all know this is happening but still don't do anything about it. Selfvoted hoping that you will see this.

A similar case occurs in my country Venezuela.
The government does not think it's from the elite but it is from the worst of the worst in corruption.
While hundreds of people are still imprisoned for protesting against better situations and opportunities for all of us who live here, the country falls apart, the oil resources are stolen and everyone denounces that but for the government nothing happens, everything is part of an economic war. It's frustrating.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Please check out this initiative: Helping Venezuela with Crypto. DavidHay's Mass Adoption Pan. I give a very brief overview of the historical problems that the government has caused, and a HUGE plan that might help the people of Venezuela, as well as crypto.

It is extremely frustrating and disheartening. I hope you and your family are well.

Hopefully @ngans cryptocurrencies could help us all but not all Venezuelans have the correct information about it. The government is trying to take advantage of it through the PETRO but frankly there are more doubts than benefits that we see in this currency. For me it is a new way of diverting the riches of the country to the same small group as always. And thanks for the link I will try to check it calmly.

Yes, these are great points. You should check out his video in the article. He touches on the problems associated with the PetroDollar, and explains that his plan involves setting up offices where he will train people on how to buy, exchange, and use the cryptocurrency. He is a great communicator, with a huge youtube channel. He also has Venezuelan family to whom he sends money via crypto, making him a perfect person to help in this way.

I've been following the situation with Venezuela for a while now, it's very sad to see something like that unfold. The oppression you are facing from your own government for the past couple of years is immense. I don't get it. how far will they go? And how much more can the people take?

The thirst for power is immense @runicar for them the slogan is to keep the people with gifts when reality tells you that with what earned per month minimum wage do not reach to buy the food of the day for a family of three members.
Venezuelans are mostly taking the decision to leave in search of new opportunities in neighboring countries such as Coombia, Peru, Chile or Ecuador, leaving behind family and assets that cost so much sweat. But I do not judge them at some point I will have to migrate since the situation instead of improving, gets worse over time.

Yes. This is a cyclic problem. The more that the currency hyperinflates, the more the government prints to pay off dept. This is a problem that has occurred countless times in history.

The spill over from fleeing Venezuelans is putting additional stress on the neighboring countries. This is a huge issue, which unfortunately not many US or Europeans seem to be aware of.

I'm from Slovenia and can backup runicars comment :) No, seriously. We all have the same problems, when money turns the world around.

... a K.I.D.s prayer was here ...

I totally agree with you.......

I think people are doing as much as they can behinf the scenes to stop the elite, but they cannot do it publicly.

Thanks for informing us about this movie. I'll have to watch it. I knew I wanted banks to pay for their crimes against humanity, but not like this.

I didn't realise I could feel sorry for bankers, but after reading what you wrote I think I just did. It sounds like they were some of the "good guys."

I like the title, too. A play on "too big to fail."

It certainly seemed like an overzealous prosecution of a bank who did something very small compared with the big ones that got away.

agreed

Yes, you're very right, and this creepy act keeps corruption living close. You steal a dollar, you go to jail. You steal millions of dollars, then you can bail yourself. All these wrong accusations at times get me very mad at the people in power.

Very nice picture

good informing reply Dear /@lemony-cricket

  ·  7 years ago (edited)Reveal Comment

I don't know if someone has hacked your account, otherwise you're a retard to post that shit on a trending page! Bye Bye Reputation!

Is this a part of the movie. I'm confused.

good writing~ voting it!

Because power corrupts, and those in power usually have checkered pasts so they're easily manipulated.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I have never seen the movie Abacus: small enough to jail . But with the little review you have done on the movie, I can see that it's a great movie and would love to watch it. Is it an old or recent movie?

Speaking about the Manhattan district Attorney , I don't think he is the only one involved in this. They say judges and incorruptible but that's a lie . This is a problem found every where and in every country. Even in mine. The reason they prosecute small defendants and let the big defendants go free is just coz of the amount of influence those with the big cases have.

The Case that I picked interest the most here is the fraud case vanca had against Donald Trump Jr and vanka Trump for inflating the Trump SoHo project Price. Now that was pathetic and from the person who read the mail, they New it was wrong but still went ahead to do it. I really wonder why they were set free.

This is what I call the abuse of power and it is very wrong. But honestly who will bell the cat?

@donkeypong, thanks for the movie recommendation, I'm on my way to download already...

@sistem I can't agree with you more on this. I was sick to the bones on reading this post. Especially where it had to do with the pervert i saw on TV last night- Harvey Weinstein. It is shocking that so many things are pushed under the carpet if you can just bring the money....equality before the law has for so long now become a mirage. The system is getting more unbelievably corrupt by the day. The Trump family isn't even helping matters, yet the commoners are trampled upon without mercy..How exactly did we get here??

We have to do what we can to hold powerful people accountable. Otherwise, as they prove, they are quick to abuse that authority.

Just last month in my State, a private sector owner took three big government shots to court...so so funny when it was announced that the case would be dismissed. As i do not know exactly the procedures and conditions for dismissal, i did not think much about it.

But just last week, there was a big fight between a man and his wife's family(plus the wife) about struggle for some stuff i better not make public here. He had to involve the cops since the fight was getting dirty, and at the end of the day in my bewilderment , the man(the husband) was rather the person jailed, because the wife happens to have wealthy parents that are public figures. He is taking the case to court, and the lawyer representing the wife is her(the wife's) jnr sister. How more dirty could this get?!

Although it feels so discouraging, sometimes we just have to do what we can, because like you said...power intoxicates

hi dear /@sistem
your article is very excellent

Prosecution of a bank having received billions in bail outs vs bank helping unbanked immigrants get loans, start businesses and improve people's lives!!!! How does someone even compare that??
This is pure evil.. A very annoying story from a movie. I do get badly hurt when watching these movies with such stories. These things are truly happening in our world today.
Thanks for bringing up the Weinstein saga.. After all these years, the women that had been sexually abused are getting justice. Yet they even had big proof to pin the culprit Weinstein.
The justice system in all countries is filled with such scenarios. These judges are subject to the same forces as politicians when it comes to bribery.
Though for the judges; it's hard for their opinion to get opposed. This has made the justice system world over so annoyingly corrupt. The judicial system is so broken yet we have no where else to turn to.
It's sad.. but we the poor have no say and we can only fight through the media by talking against these ill practices.

Sounds like an interesting watch, i'll add it to my list.

But by reading your article this just highlights a problem not only present in the United States but throughout the world, money and politics don't get along. You just won't be able to defend your constituents when corporations and criminals are bribing you.

There's a huge need to get money out of politics, when a politician gets financed by a big bank and there's financial troubles, who do you think he will blame? who do you think he will prosecute? attack? the bank that financed him? the company that financed him? no, he will go for the competitor and the smaller the better, because its easier to crush a small business or bank like the one featured in this documentary.

It's sad that there's no easy solution for this, if you make it illegal for public servants to take private money, then they will have to find other ways to fund their campaigns, probably illegal too. There are proponents of making political campaigns funded by the government but that will also anger the tax payers and gives way too much power to the government, who gets the money and who doesn't? It's just too easy to corrupt.

I bet there's someone out there with a blockchain idea to help solve the problem of money in politics, can we make politicians more transparent and accountable if it is required that every campaign fund they get is recorded and audited on a blockchain?

Absolutely and that's a great point. I thought of mentioning campaign finance issues in this post, but it was too long already. It's very important that we do our best to keep politics as free from money as possible. It will never happen completely, but we can get closer to that goal.

Great post..Really loved the amazing information and yes in our world power of rich people is appreciated by everyone in this world and the people who aren't rich those cannot do anything and the police are now days so corrupted that the never caught the big criminal but the caught the fake person who innocent so this the truth of our world and now days it getting bigger and bigger but we cannot do anythings..The world is full of shit but there are also some beautiful thing in world..Thanks for sharing it with us...@donkeypong

I feel like this issue is common place every where in the world as you find those with more influence escape the throng of facing justice while some petty criminals are put to the coffers and made to suffer for every little criminal they commit.

However the issue is not whether you commit little or big offence, the issue is that justice should be meted out equally to any offending party.

I hope humanity wins over this war of injustice before it grows into something elae

It is common. And it should not be tolerated.

Yeah, obviously. But how do you think we can fight it from the back

Is it an elected or appointed position?

Elected.

Maybe you could run for the position or find somebody to run.

It is so sad to hear that there is two type justice which exist in our world..One is for rich and powerful and second for who is honest and struggling mostly middle class...We talked about the equality and democracy but we are still the state of autocracy indirectly..This world is ruled by capitalist,rich and powerful and people who are hardworking are dominated and harrassed.
I am very sad to hear that the people who worked for the betterment of society had got woth criminal offence and people who did big criminal act and big corruption got away witj respect...Chinese family were doing great impact in the lives of immigrant people by providing loan and helping them to improve their lives...and now they are evicted..But People like Trump and Harvey got away easily by the court without any guilty..Is it our justice system..It is just not acceptable...😠
This is not justice and we should rise voice against it...Otherwise we are killing humanity and justice...It time to change..Every one has right to get justice which our human right!!!
Yes @donkeypong...Real news make us upset rather than movie..but movie are based on real life which sometimes show the real society.

That's true that there are two levels of the justice system.

This is why we are treated differently by the system...Thanks

It is heart breaking to hear about the prosecution of the family who came out all hope from the judiciary... So sad... And larger criminals being let go... Should we have faith now on judicial system or not.....

We should have faith in it but also hold the system and its officials accountable.

It is relatively easy to oppress the weak who have nothing to help them. This is a show of abuse of power which isn't uncommon among those who should uphold the law. They should be sanctioned.

I saw the Harvey Weinstein episode in the news yesterday. It's a pity... So many years of abuse and never nailed. Well, this is the case in the world today, but my suggestion is, those people in authority patiently watching hearts bleed and lives destroyed, exchanging envelops and never doing anything to justify the innocent, should hang their heads in shame!

For the major and minor offenders' consequences... The law has simply failed! There should be a blue print on the passing of these judgements, there should be deliberations on them so that adjustments are not easily made in favour or disfavour of any party, government in, government out.

Exactly! And that's why I ended with such a photo.

Aha! Someone else saw this news on TV yesterday too...It's pathetic that a lot is going on and other people that do not have so much money for bribe are typically bearing the consequences of corrupt judges

Abacus, small enough to jail Will check it out. Looks like criminals who do big crimes often do organized crimes and these people are smart enough to exploit all the loopholes to break free even when caught. We shouldn't forget there could be some connections in the big offices as well.
Here in africa this becomes even worse, it's easy to break free when some big offices can stand by you even when we can't always notice it.

Very good read! First off I am really interested in seeing the movie and i will make sure I do. What you have described here is one of the major world wide problem of any criminal justice system, selective prosecution. The affluent are granted some form of immunity from crimes commited while the "little guys" who commit lesser crimes are the ones who are actually suffering for everything. I'm not supporting crimes committed by the "little guys" but I feel everyone should be exposed to the same prosecution process and no one should be exempted just because your father made a generous donation to somebody's campaign... Its sad really

The world is ruled by money and power. If you don't have a lot of both, that you can use to try and do anything. It's the pain of our time. Many high-ranking members of society feel impunity and freedom to do whatever they want. Justice has long been corrupt. The defenders of the people ceased to perform their functions. What can we all do? Do not miss such cases past our attention. It is necessary to talk about them to society. Now the media is in power of all people, with the advent of social networks and blockchain. We can draw attention, give publicity to a glaring case of injustice. You did the right thing by writing this article. This is not just a problem in your country. Such stories happen all over the world. I see how much power you put into the article, I feel your righteous anger and indignation. Such news does make one feel such emotions.

Thanks for your comment and I agree. It's important to speak out and share with others when something like this occurs.

It's so unfortunate that people who make the country are corrupted , so how does the nation prosper. I read the news too that he let the big banks and the big criminals ho and jailed the abacus. These people are sick , these bitches are the reason for a nation's decline. I hope people like that get punished and get punished for life. I was also reading an article before and came to know that Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office was busy probing a felony fraud case involving siblings Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in 2012. But after Donald Trump’s personal attorney, Marc Kasowitz, intervened, the investigation was dropped within months.
I mean what is that, how could he let them go with ease. And then three months later, Vance told his office to drop the investigation. These don't work for the nation but for themselves. They only fill their bellies with corrupt money and make the nation pay. I don't know what will happen to a nation in their watch. I wish they must b punished with the most scariest punishments and they deserve even more.

Such is life!
I almost cried after watching Abacus.

Even though people believe nobody is above the law, I'm still of the opinion that some people are really above it.

My friend had a similar experience last year with that of Ambra Battilana Gutierrez. This friend of mine was abused and raped by a popular man in my district, despite all evidence gotten, he was discharged and acquitted just because he has lots of cash to throw out.

I'm very sorry to hear of that story. I hope your friend stays strong.

Now imagine that shit! Imagine how many other girls out ther that have fallen/will fall victims. Imagine the number of lives he'd have destroyed in his lifetime.

I'm sure he will meet his doom one day. He's currently in court on an issue he claims he knows nothing on.

Funny enough, he's liked by the community. He's a philanthropist.

Doom's day is a fun day... Why doesn't this happen already before someone else falls victim?!?! I'm really sorry about your friend...and the party of likers he has in the community. I am sorry!

Funny enough, many corruption personified homo sapiens like that always end up raising corrupt kids too. So the train keep moving and the have-not-so-much keep falling victims.

Abacus is a must-watch

First off, ya spoiled the movie for me. I wasn't going to watch it, so that doesn't bother me.

Secondly, none of this surprises me, because guess what happens to DAs who try to go after big banks. Hint: they aren't eager to give you a pat on the back and a raise.

Just look at what happened to that Spitzball guy, you can go ahead and bang call-girls for years, but the moment you want to get some real shit done at your job you get these "anonymous sources" pretending to be call-girls or strippers or whatever crawling out of the woodwork spilling the beans on you?

He's lucky he just got publicly humiliated, he got to keep his wife, his life, and now he gets to go on tv and be a talking head for acting like it's water under the bridge and serving as a living lesson to others who would want to do what he tried to do.

Literally every time any DA turns on the tv, accidentally flips the channel and sees him on television they're reminded of what might happen to them at BEST if they want to go after the big boys.

And I can see why it's like that, financial power, the state of the US as a superpower and its ability to cash checks larger than any empire in history are intertwined with its banking sector's ability to convince wealthy investors worldwide that it's a safe place to store wealth and get ROI.

So if you're one of the favored banks, especially one of the primary lenders, you're going to get special treatment politically, economically, and legally, because that's a small price to pay for the trillions upon countless trillions the US is able to float as debt and leverage to keep and expand its sphere of influence.

Small cases like the ones mentioned in this movie are par for the course. Everyone hates people in a certain sector? Fry a small fish and serve the process up to the public. Look what happened to the CEO who tried to tweet a little too much "when keeping it real goes wrong" level shit about his pharmaceutical industry job and jacking up the prices. They will fucking have you hanged if you talk about the wrong shit or try to get under the skin of the wrong people, at least if you go about it as an individual.

It's always the same shit. Oh, the general public hates how an industry goes about its business? Leave the structure intact, protect all the connected players, destroy some sap's life when they were doing either the same exact thing as the rest of the top dogs or something much more benign.

Well, that knife shit? Yeah, if they're going to prosecute individuals then they really need to take a closer look at vendors, if a city has less guns then knives are going to be more of an issue, just look at any country where guns are nearly extinct and you'll see that stabbings become a little more frequent. Murder rates themselves are culturally and economically influenced so the US in general would be better off leveling out household incomes and offering psych than trying to do unenforceable things like take away everything that could possibly be a weapon, or everyone is going to have to figure out how to chop their vegetables with marshmallow knives real quick.

As sad and dirty as it might look, you will be surprise to learn that this is a common practice among law enforcers of different forms all over the world.
They don't wanna run after the criminals so they wait for a scape goat - anyone small enough for them to fight as an example to show they are still in office. This happens to among police officers. I have passed through dirty situations that reading this alone almost bring tears to my eyes. But it's okay, we'll fight back in our own way just like you have choosen this way to fight the corrupt. It's little by little we'll get there. Thank you for choosing to take this fight in this way. Have a beautiful day

It's the reality of life. Have to accept it the way it is. Someone who has more power will almost definitely try to abuse it. I see a lot of words like "I want them to pay for their crimes" but after a minute a person who wrote it goes back eating popcorn and watching Simpsons, so in the end, all of the "good intentions" are no more than farts in the air.

It's the reality that it exists at some level, but as a society we can demand better.

Thanks for reminding why I left NY , Queens. I hated the Politics there and how the little guy gets taken . If your not a member of or support the click you will get run over . I always thought Chicago was corrupt but NY takes advantage of the small to enrich the rich .
I will watch the Abacus movie . Thanks for the information on them . They had 3 strikes against them . Minority , Small business (Bank) and not paying for the privilege to do so . NYC DA's have a history of corruption .
I to watch news , I have to put up with verbal abuse from family for doing so as I try and watch .

Chinatown in NYC, like in many cities across this country are some of the best examples of community -- community looking out for their own. They have always had a very unique way of sticking to themselves… Almost instinctively knowing they would never get a fair shake -- they decided to it all themselves. Being "outsiders" they were (are) able to see and experience the injustices that occur on a daily basis to everyone of us, who are not on the "inside."

And although they have had their problems with gambling, gangs, drugs and organized crime (like most big cities), that is just a tiny portion of the community. In general they are people, like you and me, striving for a better life, for themselves and their children.., and a bank like Abacus (I have walked by this place a gazillion times), is not only their first choice -- it is their only choice!

They are the only neighborhood in Manhattan that has survived (fought off) gentrification… While the sense of community has all but vanished from NYC.., Chinatown refuses to sell-out, turn their backs on the people that helped to build there community -- this makes them an easy target for the rich and powerful.., and the jackasses like Vance who do the bidding for them, hoping one day to become one of them -- the elites.

By operating on the fringes in order to serve the community they have created, they are vulnerable to attacks like this, when someone running for elected office needs some headlines and to fatten their coffers, instead of going after the real criminals that rob this city (and fund their campaigns) blind -- they pick the easy target, the people that don't have any juice in the system, no strings to pull, no connections -- no way to defend themselves in a corrupt system that has blatantly been bought and paid for by the same people that hope to eventually vanquish Chinatown and build more skyscrapers made of steel and glass, that only serve to reward themselves and the banks that fund them…

It is unfortunately, just one of many gross injustices that take place daily across the globe -- making decentralized places like Steemit, things like the blockchain and cryptos ever more important, if we are ever to see any real change.., or any real justice. At least, a place (a world) where everyone gets a fair shake.

P.S.,
Cyrus Vance, Jr. is a pig!

Well said. I hope we can do better.

Well, am not surprised. Seems the system is same everywhere. Only the little guys get knocked by the law.
Watching or reading the news these days gets me really angry and worked up. I said to myself why the waste of energy getting furious and complaining. This guys will always do what they wanna do and get away with it. Hence I don't bother watching anymore. But believe me, what you have there is a million times better than what we have in my sick corrupt country.

@donkeypong the sad truth is this behavior is not isolated to the New York DA. The same calculus applies to the IRS as well. For some time, enforcement was pushed against waiters/waitresses who failed to claim all of their tips on their income tax returns, while the Large Business and International (LBI)division of the IRS had funding cut, so enforcement actions against these bigger fish dropped.

I think this ugly truth more than any left me incredibly jaded about the term , "Equal Justice Under the Law."

It's a lot easier for them to pick on the smaller ones.

@donkeypong I will agree with you that it's much easier to go after someone without the resources to defend themselves. I am reminded about the Deeper Dive I wrote about earlier on my blog, when I lived the life of an unbanked individual. It's incredible how expensive it is to be poor.

Vance just going for the low hanging fruit which is easy to prosecute. Keeps his cases won record high. Feeds his narcissistic soul...

Because the big criminals pay him well enough...

It is simply because.... MONEY TALKS!

I watched the story about Abacus bank, its really awesome that they won. It really took its toll on the family but they are getting an influx of money from people who want to support them even more now. It reminds me of a bully trying to pick a fight with someone they think is weak and then getting beat down.

Such a sad state of affairs we live in. I hate that all those with money and power get away with murder (literally). So many bankers should have been put in jail for 10+ years for their crimes against humanity. Jon Corzine, Jamie Dimon, etc. Yet they get bailed out and slaps on the wrist. Will the people ever have true Justice again.

Stop prosecuting the small guys and go for the big fish already.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Please pardon me, but aren't the bankers supposed to be bad guys...
But after reading your post a part of me felt sympathetic towards them...
The mother of all crimes is this evil organisation they call
US Federal Reserves. ....

Please sir visit this link
i am sure changing your ming
https://steemit.com/respect/@shanto24/yy3mw-great-steemit-user

Prosecution of a bank having received billions in bail outs vs bank helping unbanked immigrants get loans, start businesses and improve people's lives!!!! How does someone even compare that??
This is pure evil.. A very annoying story from a movie. I do get badly hurt when watching these movies with such stories. These things are truly happening in our world today.
Thanks for bringing up the Weinstein saga.. After all these years, the women that had been sexually abused are getting justice. Yet they even had big proof to pin the culprit Weinstein.
The justice system in all countries is filled with such scenarios. These judges are subject to the same forces as politicians when it comes to bribery.
Though for the judges; it's hard for their opinion to get opposed. This has made the justice system world over so annoyingly corrupt. The judicial system is so broken yet we have no where else to turn to.
It's sad.. but we the poor have no say and we can only fight through the media by talking against these ill practices.Good post.

As humans we should continue to strive for a better system where justice is fairly meted out regardless of the resources of those involved. What you have should not be a factor in determining truth and fairness. Hopefully, the younger generation, and using technology will eventually develop and move things in a more just direction.

The thing about abacus was actually a thriller.

Yet in all but three states prosecutors are also elected officials. About 2,300 prosecutors across the country must raise money for campaigns, opening them up to charges of favoritism toward contributors. What’s more, most prosecutors serve multiple terms, and they run unopposed for re-election more than 80 percent of the time, academic studies have shown. One reason is that few criminal defense lawyers are willing to risk alienating them with a political challenge.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

it's all money and power Noone really care when it's about the power, who in involved in any crimes if they are powerful or at any higher level then normal noone will dare to touch there colors even they are guilty and when there are some minor criminal due to there financial status noone let it go because it's easy to proven guilty and to be punish ... This world has always come with bitter truth that if you are powerfull and prestigious no crime is big for you and for the lower level people there financial situation itsself become a big crime in our society... @donkeypong

I also have a habit like @donkeypong. Besides liking movie movie about politics I also like watching news broadcast every day. because by watching the news we will not miss the current politics. Instead of watching another movie, it would be nice to watch a movie about politics. And the best political movie in my opinion is a russian film

I think that justice has the same problem in every country. In our country, prosecutors receive a huge salary (which they could not bribe) and still small scammers meet before the law, and large ones are free. Interesting post. Thank you for sharing.

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Why the fate of criminals should matter more than the fate of crime victims is a question that went largely unasked, let alone answered, during last week’s bipartisan celebration of past President Obama’s decision to release dozens of individuals from prison and push for looser sentencing guidelines.

If the president is to be believed, it is not the prevalence of thugs that turns black ghettos into living nightmares for residents. Rather, the police, prosecutors and judges who pursue lawbreakers are the bigger cause for concern.

“A growing body of research shows that people of color are more likely to be stopped, frisked, questioned, charged, detained,” said Mr. Obama in his recent address to the NAACP. “What is that doing to our communities? What’s that doing to those children? Our nation is being robbed of men and women who could be workers and taxpayers, could be more actively involved in their children’s lives, could be role models, could be community leaders.”
Higher black incarceration rates reflect higher black crime rates, but like many liberal critics of “mass incarceration” the president would rather focus on the behavior of police and prosecutors, not the behavior of the young black men responsible for so much lawbreaking. Not surprisingly, the poor and working-class blacks who are the primary victims of black criminality tend to have different priorities. In “The New Jim Crow,” Michelle Alexander’s attack on the criminal justice system, the author notes (disapprovingly) that “some black mayors, politicians, and lobbyists—as well as preachers, teachers, barbers and ordinary folk—endorse ‘get tough’ tactics and spend more time chastising the urban poor for their behavior.”

Occasionally, an honest liberal, like the one who taught Mr. Obama at Harvard Law School, will state the obvious. “The most lethal danger facing African Americans in their daily lives,” wrote Prof. Randall Kennedy in these pages 21 years ago, “is not white, racist officials of the state, but private, violent criminals, typically black, who attack those most vulnerable to them without regard for racial identity.”
Mr. Riley, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow and Journal contributor, is the author of “Please Stop Helping Us: How Liberals Make It Harder for Blacks to Succeed” (Encounter Books, 2014).

Most times its a lot easier to make the little people pay for deeds than to do that to bigger ones/companies which is injustice,if everyone is wrong then everyone should be punished irrespective of their positions,mostly its easier to get little people feel intimidated and making people pay wrongly than they should

I like the way you wrote about the movie extensively and tied it up with the Donald & Ivanka Trump Story. Soft of these things also hold true in real life. Attorneys in real life also tend to favour those with influence in the society although they will argue against this with the last drop of their blood . It is happening ! We are in a society where wealth speaks so loud sometimes louder than Justice

I trust you are no more angry now. Understand that most times, if movies are acted the exact ways things happen in real life, the movie would not be interesting to watch anywhere. Nobody wants to watch uneventful acting. So most time, the scriptwright has to twist it so that it appeals to the populace-a unique talent.

The way you talked about this movie makes me want to watch it. The director should give you a promotional or most especially a critique work.

It's truly been bound to happen its unexpected piece is that the equity frameworks are even offenders, the police are controlled by degenerate authorities in government a you may believe you're heading off to the law for equity butbybe judge the legal advisors are for the most part plots of defilement.

We know that fare evasion arrests have disproportionately impacted brown and black New Yorkers, and the consequences can be significant: a criminal record, time on Rikers Island and potentially deportation for some,” Lancman said in a statement. “The thousands of arrests that are made every year for subway fare evasion waste valuable law enforcement resources and clog our court system.

very good post @donkeypong, I really like to read your article, your article can always be a very good motivation for the crowd. thanks for sharing great information.

It's really informative post for all. thanks for your kind information. great job.

What a post. Wow! But that's the way how world turns. You steal a salami and get in jail for 3 year. You steal a billion dollars and the give you a medal for it.

really super & mind touch post and pic like it.
I get a lot of information from them and get knowledge which I can use in future.

In a spirited and candid discussion Tuesday morning between elected officials and researchers at a conference on incarceration reform at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said that the business model of how his office operates “does not make sense” and that it fails young, minor offenders who pile up misdemeanors until they face serious consequences in the criminal justice system.

Perhaps. The justice system does not treat everyone fairly. But I'm relatively sure that every alleged crime discussed in my post was a felony, not a misdemeanor.

I really agree, the justice system is fucked up, they punish the powerless who are involved in small crimes, and those who have power aren't even touched no matter how much bigger crime they have committed

very good post @donkeypong, I really like to read your article, your article can always be a very good motivation for the crowd. Especially for people who have just joined in steemit and for myself. Thank you for sharing and hope you will be more successful to work and continue to share motivation for us all, let us all be successful as you ... :)

Abacus, a small family-run bank, becomes the only U.S. bank to face criminal charges in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. The indictment and subsequent trial forces the Sung family to defend itself and its bank's legacy in the Chinatown community over the course of a five-year legal battle...
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States' 2008 mortgage crisis...

Well, let me first say that the system is 100% rigged by the powers that be, and they decide who does what and what happens within their little system. If the system was fair, so many people would be in jail or dead due to their actions, but we all know its not fair. :(

We live in the matrix, we are all controlled by the powers that be, everything is all 1's and 0's.

thank you dear donkeypong.
criminal and befriend can't be

Injustice even in movies trail... It abounds even in real life

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

Abascus ...one of my fav .....i personaly loved this movie so much...

I think Vance and his office were just insensitive to the ways in which this case and bringing it to trial was culturally insensitive. I mean, the chain gang alone was an act of tremendous insensitivity and I would say racism, however unintended it might have been… They didn’t seem interested at all in understanding that bias.

It is about the real emotions ....if someone wants to have a look at what this movie is all about look for this ...a perfect description...

Almost all of us in watching movies are inspired by what is in the movie, but rarely have a critical nature of the tanyangan that is watched, this is a great creation and this post is very valuable@donkeypong

There's always justice for the big fish, but for the small ones? Let me think... Who are your connections?....

Sad to say but it's rampant now to our community. Im just hoping that a true will come and take over these life's injustices.

does this world only belong to the criminals :/

My rank is 25 to 4 You have a lot of rank so please help me a little my ID @mohabat

A small example, of something that works in the opposite direction.

In the country I live in, for years, traffic police would only stop drivers of the cheaper models. As the business of bribery took off, they learnt to leave the poorer drivers alone and go after the nice, posh cars, even if they use a chauffeur. The cost of bribing has gone up...steeply.

@donkeypon, I suspect that you are behind some of the good stuff that has happened to me, even if you do not know me.

I suspect you have delegated a nice sum for someone to curate and help smaller (fried) fish. I have been helped a number of times - and somehow the encouragement comes as I am just about to give up.

I'm not saying it is or is not you - I just wanted to say, if...then, thank you very much.

No reply needed or expected, keep to your task of preparing good and interesting posts.
:)

This is why the bible says man has dominated man to his own injury. The prosecutor is getting the best of both worlds- lining his pockets by letting top criminals go while getting famous by feeding off on the misery of the small and unfortunate.
We say we are higher animals but sometimes I wonder and our actions betray us, leaving us dirtier than the filth the lower animals mire in.

Seems like the perfect movie to generate some rage. Will keep items that are easy to throw out of arms reach.

Looks good!

Karl Max has already done justice to this topic when he said politics is the dominant idea of the elites, in most instances the law has made a few stronger and the weak it keeps in a great number in a box of no objection, it will take another revolution to break this barrier because if you are not in their clique you suffer for nothing.

That's amazing sir.. let's spend more time on news than movies.

Globally laws are enforced in case of poor and powerless people but those are rich and politically influential always remain above law, despite their major crime. It is unfortunate at this digital age.

great post

First off ya spoiled the movie for. me

the movies are pretty good. Thank there are two benefits for the para. first, the reader will get a good movie reference. secondly, the reader will learn how to view a movie. congratulations

Worse with the circumstances of Indonesia, here chicken thieves are punished maximum in prison. Corruptors live free and honorable, you can follow news from Indonesia, corrupt and call on human rights like living in heaven. We people are suffering greatly.

It is so sad, but this world we live in right now it will be so hard to get it eliminated. The government are being treated fairly when it comes to justice. They might showcase what they want us to hear in the news, but the real deal is done behind the scene. Nice post.

Pliiss upvote me

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well sometimes i see this as fraud sometimes i see it as favour. i keep asking why judge some cases so fast while others will stay for year in my country nigeria. those staying for years will be those with name, wealthy men, those in the system of ruler ship. so is like they have immunity to prosecution. its really bad in the world seeing the poor going for jail just because he stole 1 dollar while the rich stole billions of dollars all swept under the carpet. this system of judgement is everywhere and i dont even believe it will ever stop. may be its another form of favour of having firm, wealth , connections and voice.

@donkeypong, Absollutely better coversation you introducing this time. I checked some riview about main title. I have understand somethings. While the film never reaches the kind of emotional peaks of James’ best work like Hoop Dreams or The Interrupters, Abacus Small Enough To Jail is no less compelling. And it serves a very important reminder, particularly at a time when more than ever, it seems banks are putting profit in front of people. More people are reading the Guardian than ever but advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters because it might well be your perspective too.Thank you for shared valuable review to us.

I learn more how to u explain about something, ur clever and thas i muat study hard before same like ur. Thanks bro @almukhyarsidiq

Discrimination against one such bank and letting the bigger fishes go is really absurd that too when there default is 1/10 as compared to the other banks. Its really sad and felt really bad for the family. Even though i have always wanted banks to pay for their crimes but not this way. This is by no means humanity. I hope and wish humanity wins.

This is not a single incident. All over the world system tramples weaker section of the society. Powerful and greedy people are united while common people are divided in the name of religion, race, ethnicity, language etc. This division is exploited by the powerful elite who commit horrendous crime and remains unscathed. Common man is not better than a tool in their hand. Police, military and every part of the system serve the powerful people.
Whoever challenges those people pays for raising his/her voice. Even common people treat a small criminal harshly while they dread of a big criminal to such an extent that they began to support him to the level of worshiping. This behavior must be changed. Otherwise, this will be repeated again and again. Is our so called society ready to change itself?

The reason is that "whites are OXYHONIMOIDS and not true humans".
A German white man had posted a video stating this and mentioning that whites are the only species that enjoy killing and taking over of lands like Australia, America and South Africa. Europe and USA also had human zoos. They feel all are inferior to them, no one is above them.

Here is the full article i made on this:
A German White man claims that "Whites are not Earthlings"... PEACE

Here is his video where he states this:

PEACE

You just narrated the story of Nigerian government, even though this time, it wasn't the bank or community bank involved. The big people get away with everything here, but the low ones? They call it justice! It's pathetic.

the article are good...hope you continue..let us know alot and learn

The biggest criminals always get away

Nice information

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

This is a nice sharing. Thanks

thanks for your information

Documentary movies make us more angry, sad, or happy than when we heard the original story. Cases like above can be in any country, including in Indonesia. Until now, the trillions of rupiah funds from Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance resulting in the monetary crisis in 1998 have not been fully investigated until now. Law enforcement officers in Indonesia are more focused on demanding a grandmother who stole chocolate for her life. It seems that having a lot of money is a way of avoiding legal action. Thanks so much for sharing @donkeypong.

You can see the "quality" of a person when they have power ...

It is relatively easy to oppress the weak who have nothing to help them. This is a show of abuse of power which isn't uncommon among those who should uphold the law. They should be sanctioned.

good job cover.gif

the big ones go home free why the small ones stay behind the bar what a nation with corruption

  ·  7 years ago (edited)

I will try to watch the movie thanks for sharing @donkeypong

Money talks, all about the Benjamins. The corruption is widespread and more apparent in my country, that if I began listing some of the recent happenings to you, you'd think it's a joke but it's the reality of the day. May God help us, happy Sunday sir.

I hate it when i hear or see people eacape the wrath of the law when they commit crimes just because they are famous and influential. .thats injustice.

The law applys to everyone.

..after reading your summary on the Abacus movie, i too get why your upset cause I'm getting the feeling too.

Nice post sir.

it's a good idea to see where it is

But less than six months after the D.A.’s office dropped the case, Kasowitz made an even larger donation to Vance’s campaign, and helped raise more from others — eventually, a total of more than $50,000. After being asked about these donations as part of the reporting for this article — more than four years after the fact — Vance said he now plans to give back Kasowitz’s second contribution, too. “I don’t want the money to be a millstone around anybody’s neck, including the office’s,” he said.

Most govt representatives all over the world tend to be corrupt. What Vance did with Abacus and the Chinese family (and did not with Harvey and Trump) is a reflection of that corrupt attitude. Prosecutors should be fair of all people. I have monologues like you do and sometimes they are really disturbing. That's why I have stopped watching news channels.

I must watch the movie though. Thank you for such a thorough review based on deep perspective.

Great discription

In general, I don’t get emotionally involved because I feel some distance.

Mostly movies are far from reality so people take it lightly. However movie based on real fact is just like a news. I am amazed after reading that unjustice exist in United States. So the world has common problem few influential elites spoil the system. I am afraid to say might is right law implement in today's world that is why big fish eat small fish. Same is the case with Abacus when big banks were offered bail out package a small bank who was helping immigrants and needly people to become stable was charged in a most disgusting way by making culprit a prime witness. Donot know how long the in just system remain active but hopefully block chain will definitely damage the corrupt system

thanks for sharing...

well really i am not in to these thing couse i have raven you know try to understand all these matters i think everything is about money may be as you mentioned so far