Ordinarily I wouldn't post something I can't vouch for in the least, but in this case I wouldn't know where to begin. If anyone can confirm or deny what follows, please step up and say so. If this is false, I would be grateful, and more than happy to delete it.
First, though, some background for us dummies, from Wikipedia:
The Libor scandal is a series of fraudulent actions connected to the Libor (London Interbank Offered Rate) and the resulting investigation and reaction. The Libor is an average interest rate calculated through submissions of interest rates by major banks in London. The scandal arose when it was discovered that banks were falsely inflating or deflating their rates so as to profit from trades, or to give the impression that they were more creditworthy than they were. Libor underpins approximately $350 trillion in derivatives. It is controlled by the British Bankers' Association (BBA).
The banks are supposed to submit the actual interest rates they are paying, or would expect to pay, for borrowing from other banks. The Libor is supposed to be an overall assessment of the health of the financial system because if the banks being polled feel confident about the state of things, they report a low number and if the member banks feel a low degree of confidence in the financial system, they report a higher interest rate number. In June 2012, multiple criminal settlements by Barclays Bank revealed significant fraud and collusion by member banks connected to the rate submissions, leading to the scandal.
Because Libor is used in U.S. derivatives markets, an attempt to manipulate Libor is an attempt to manipulate U.S. derivatives markets, and thus a violation of American law. Since mortgages, student loans, financial derivatives,and other financial products often rely on Libor as a reference rate, the manipulation of submissions used to calculate those rates can have significant negative effects on consumers and financial markets worldwide. On July 27, 2012, the Financial Times published an article by a former trader which said that Libor manipulation has been common since at least 1991. Further reports on this have since come from the BBC and Reuters....
Now the bombshell, if it is one...
This site - called BeforeItsNews.com - suggests that recent mass shootings in America are connected to something called the LIBOR Scandal, which is said to "dwarf by ordres of magnitude any financial scam in the history of markets" (Andrew Lo, Professor of Finance, MIT).
The father of Newtown Connecticut school shooter Adam Lanza is Peter Lanza who is a VP and Tax Director at GE Financial.
The father of Aurora Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes is Robert Holmes, the lead scientist for the credit score company FICO.
Both men were to testify before the US Sentate in the ongoing LIBOR scandal....
The TPM/DC website pooh-poohs this as a "hoax" spreading "fast across the fringe." ays this is all BS and our government is not investiating LIBOR. But a quick and simply google search for {keywords: libor senate investigation} yields this, from the website of Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island:
THURSDAY, JULY 12, 2012
Senators Want Law Enforcement, Regulators to Step Up Investigation of LIBOR Manipulation
WASHINGTON, DC – In an effort to prevent possible banking fraud and restore integrity to our financial system, a key group of lawmakers is asking for a thorough, independent investigation into the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate (LIBOR) manipulation scandal and for any wrongdoing to be fully prosecuted.
In a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and the members of the Financial Stability Oversight Council (FSOC), which includes: U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner; Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke; and the heads of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC); Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC); Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB); Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA); National Credit Union Administration (NCUA); and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Senators wrote that they are troubled by the allegations of potentially widespread fraud and urged a thorough investigation of “the banks and the process involved in setting LIBOR for any wrongdoing. Banks and their employees found to have broken the law should face appropriate criminal prosecution and civil action.”
In addition to investigating the banks, U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI), Carl Levin (D-MI), Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) are asking the U.S. Department of Justice to examine “allegations that U.S. and foreign bank regulators may have been aware of this wrongdoing for years. Just like the banks and executives they oversee, regulators who were involved should be held to account for any failures to stop wrongdoing that they knew, or should have known about.”
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