September 28, 2014
My Bank Closed My Account
I received a letter yesterday from the Bank where I maintain my checking account and debit card. The letter indicated that my bank closed my account for unspecified reasons. You feel a bit of disappointment because you know you are being fired by your Bank because of your improper actions. Not that big of a deal because I will have no use for a Bank Account while I am away at Federal Prison Camp.(another relevant factor could be the fact that I do not have any money to put in to the account anyway)
I have also received letters from credit card companies stating the same thing. These seemingly insignificant day to day events remind you of the depth and scope of the consequences flowing from a Federal Felony conviction.This is not something that is going to disappear from your life. It is going to follow you around long after you complete your sentence.
The ironic part of all this is that I was deemed unworthy by the Bank that just paid the biggest fine in United States history, almost 17 billion dollars. The Bank paid that incredible fine because it committed fraud in underwriting and packaging mortgages for sale to investors resulting in billions of dollars in damages. Furthermore, no individual is being charged with a criminal act in this multi billion dollar fraud. I guess the Corporation committed the Fraud on it’s own without any help from any corporate employees?
Enough complaining! I do not want to fall into that rationalization mode where you try and excuse your own conduct by describing other people’s bad conduct expecting it will make you look less guilty of your own crime. People in my position have a tendency to do that. As my white-collar defense attorney stated, the act of deflecting culpability has risen to an art form over the past 20 years! It is like Ike Turner stating, “I do not beat my wife anymore than the average guy” and assuming, based upon that logic, that beating his wife is ok!
Well, I do not have a bank account anymore and I do not have anyone else to blame but Me.
Ken Flaska
