See this video ofthe deposition of GMAC’s famed robo signer, Jeffrey Stephan, who estimates that he signs 10,000 documents a month. If nothing else, you need to watch from 5:00 to the end of the first segment.
Hat tip reader Barbara W, from 4closureFraud.org.
I wish the sound quality were better; you can also read excerpts of key sections, some of which is contained in these clips.
Yves Smith says: 4closureFraud presents this with a straight face, for the most part. The sound quality ought to be a ton better. But crappy lighting and sound are typical of real video depos.
anon says: Oh, I wasn’t meaning to question you or 4closureFraud. It’s more that I’m shocked by the videos and shocked by their plausibility. Which, given the cynical views I’ve developed about the “System,” is itself quite shocking.
Shouldn’t Obama declare these videos “state secrets” to prevent their dissemination? Isn’t that how things work nowadays?
Eagle says: “Shouldn’t Obama declare these videos “state secrets” to prevent their dissemination? Isn’t that how things work nowadays?”
It seems you’ve answered your own question.
Eagle says: Edit: Should have watched it before commenting. It seems highly unlikely this is real.
required says: http://www.google.com/search?q=jeffrey+stephan yields over 3M hits. There must be something to it.
Skippy says: ROFLMAO…our dark MBS overlords are using oompa loompas under going a combo gene / hormone / skin bleaching therapy and that means Willy Wonka aint making chocolate any more…
Ray says: Sorry to go off on a slight tangent here but… is Jeffrey a woman in disguise? He really looks and sounds like a she sporting a beard. What evidence is there that this is for real?
Too many years on the net = inability to believe anything any more.
fresno dan says: I think you may be correct. Looking at the hips, apparent lack of adam’s apple, finger length ratio, and hand mannerisms, I think maybe that is a woman
Jane says: Definitely Female. Totally fake.
Kevin Smith says: We eagerly await video of the “vice-presidents” etc. who are signing for Morgan-Stanley, et al.
Naptown says: I think “Stephan” is sporting a visor with fake hair (google: Visor with fake hair, flames).
I think it’s unlikely this is the real deal.
MinnItMan says: I thought banking visors were supposed to be green, as in “green eyeshades,” but I digress.
Because of libel law, and because the depo video is being “re-published” by an attorney, I am pretty sure that this video is the real thing. This lawyer seems pretty serious about her mission and a phony video would greatly undermine what she is doing.
As for the substance here, Stephan is confirming that the documents supplied to the court as exhibits are not being evaluated for their true and correctness, and thus, that the affidavits stating that Stephan has personal knowledge that they are “true and correct” are false. That GMAC is claiming that the affidavits are “substantially correct” is irrelevant. They are not based on personal knowledge – the foundational requirement for admissability of the copies as evidence in court.
What is hard to believe here is that GMAC didn’t provide an attorney for this guy. This depo was both a legal disaster for it (probably unavoidable) and an epic PR fail (mostly avoidable), and may regrettably re-instate corporate dress codes by the end of the week.
rd says: This cannot possibly be the real deposition. It has to have been staged. Most gas station attendants would be more professional.
If it is real, then the banking system is in way worse shape than I could even have conceived of.
ECONOMISTA NON GRATA says: Well…. the only contribution that I can make to these comments is that, if a corporation is a “person”, CMAC ought to be shot…….
Are PAs persons also….?
Best regards,
Econolicious
kevin de bruxelles says: This is just too weird. What is happening at the very end of the second video?
There certainly seems to have been a real (and damaging) deposition on June 7th 2010 in Maine by a Jeffrey B. Stephan. I have doubts that this is the real video from it though.
Which begs the question; if this video is indeed fake, what are the motivations driving the actors who faked it?
Michel Delving says: In the June 7th, 2010 depo, Jeffrey Stephan was deposed in Pennsylvania by Maine attorney Thomas Cox. Here is that transcript:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/33129394/2nd-Deposition-of-Jeffrey-Stephan-%E2%80%93-GMAC-s-Assignment-Affidavit-Slave
These videos are from December 10th, 2009 depo, taken in Palm Beach by Attorney Christopher Immel and here is that transcript:
http://api.ning.com/files/s4SMwlZXvPu4A7kq7XQUsGW9xEcYtqNMPCm0a2hISJu88PoY6ZNqanX7XK41Fyf9gV8JIHDme7KcFO2cvHqSEMcplJ8vwnDT/091210gmacmortgagevsannmneu1.pdf
While it’s only human nature to get sidetracked by the witness’s appearance, demeanor and to speculate on legitimacy of these videos, real credit must be given to the attorneys who deposed him and brought out this ugly reality of the foreclosure machinery that has been plaguing homeowners across the US – Christopher Immel of Ice Legal in Palm Beach and Maine Attorneys Thomas Cox and Geoffrey Lewis. Thank you gentlemen for your public service.
Kevin de Bruxelles says: No way, you cannot be serious–take a look at the video; those hips have given birth within the past five years. That is not a dude.
This post and video are frustrating. If it’s a joke then just present it as a joke. But why make a mockery out of such extremely damaging depositions? (I believe the links you gave are true). OK at the limit I could see a couple of minutes, although I have to say the laughs were a bit meager even for that. But two videos at 19 minutes?
And what’s up with presenting this “guy” as a poor dumb country bumpkin? Aren’t the people being foreclosed upon often of rather humble means?
It not only sends my bullshit detector wailing; it sets off my conspiracy detector as well. Who has an interest in undermining and belittling these depositions? I seriously don’t get this shit. If OJ had admitted in a deposition to murdering their daughter, would the Brown family have gone out and made a spoof of his testimony by getting some ghetto chick in reverse drag to read his confession?
Yearning to Learn says: on the one hand, this does almost seem fictional. almost too tragic to be real.
on the other hand, what type of person do you think is most easily convinced to perjure themselves to sign 10,000 documents a month?
a person with an MBA from Wharton or a law degree from Yale? Or a financially/legally ignorant guy?
we see this time and time again… usually the people doing the major crimes in an organization are patsies brought up to do exactly (and only) that. thus the CEOs can pretend they knew nothing about it.
reminds me of Anderson Accounting’s paper shredders.
nick says: S/he is reading her/his answers from a paper on the table–as if from a transcript of the original depo.
Moreover, no way is GMAC going to allow a flunky to testify in a deposition without a GMAC attorney present, not on this matter.
Finally, at the point where s/he breaks up laughing, s/he and the attorney agree they are surprised s/he “made it that far/”
This looks like some goofy dramatization of the original depo.
Goin' South says: It’s spoof, gang.
This is from the posting on the 4closurefraud.org site:
Full Video Deposition of Jeffrey Stephan??? Assignment / Affidavit Slave
Just added the video “deposition” in two parts to the video tab… Here they are as well… Enjoy! Jeffrey Stephan Part One Jeffrey Stephan Part Two HA! ~ 4closureFraud.org
Filed under Corruption, Fannie Mae, Foreclosure Fraud, MERS, Mortgage Fraud, Video, bankruptcy, cdo, cds, foreclosure, freddie mac, mortgage electronic registration system, securities fraud · Tagged with criminal, theft, foreclosure, MERS, Fannie Mae, bank fraud, wrongful foreclosure, mortgage electronic registration system, 4closurefraud, clouded title, Foreclosure Fraud, fight the banks, GMAC, Jeffrey Stephen, Affidavits, satire, ally financial, spoof, comedy
Need to turn those snark meters on!
ron tough says: THIS IS JUST ANOTHER BS REASON FOR THE BANKS TO STOP RELEASING FORECLOSURES INTO THE MARKET PLACE. IT’S JUST ANOTHER REASON FOR THE BANKS TO ARTIFICIALLY LIMIT THE SUPPLY OF CHEAP AND AFFORDABLE HOUSING. I SAY KEEP THE FORECLOSURES COMING. AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR EVERYONE!!!
Yves wrote
“4closureFraud presents this with a straight face, for the most part. The sound quality ought to be a ton better. But crappy lighting and sound are typical of real video depos.”
Ahem, 4closureFraud is actually running it as comedy / satire relief. You should probably give your readers a heads-up to protect the integrity of the information published inter alia on this site.
john says: I don’t even need to watch this, do I?
o_O
Morgana T Scozzafava says: Are you people retarded?
Yves: this obviously began as a joke but it has shaken my faith in your commenters.
Too many people firing first, aiming later.
craazyman says: You’re flying off the handle yourself.
The video transcends the dull facts of the situation and illuminates the phenomenon in a profoundly accurate way, thereby achieving a sublime truthfullness that confused and variegated reality rarely can.
And the other thing. That dude has tits and very wide hips, which is sort of weird. But I’m a libertarian and a New Yorker, so whatever . . . ;)
Yearning to Learn says: well said craazyman.
yes, clearly this is fake. however, how much better do you think the actual deposition looked?
doesn’t matter to me if it’s a woman in a mullet hat and a fake beard, or a guy with slick hair and gordon gekko suit. a patsy is a patsy is a patsy.
Soylent says: “Too many people firing first, aiming later.”
Fire first, paint bullseyes around the bullet holes later.
I’ve attended a lot of videotaped depositions (taking, defending, observing and testifying).
This is not a videotaped deposition.
Somebody just had a lot of fun dressing up a woman as Joe Dirt.
Little voice in texas says: This is a reenactment of a testimony. The actor is an actress and video has been reprocessed thru final cut to add fake grain and film scratches which is stupid
mk says: I thought it was actors using the real deposition as script, not so?
Mike says: Wow – way to drop the credibility of your site by about 60%.
Nathanael says: Ah, so it’s a video recording of an actor… reading the actual deposition. Got it.
AnonDriveby says: All the doubting ThomAsses here need to take a closer look at the scenario. It’s dark December and the witness has been sprung from his boring job in frigid Pennsylvania for some warm, sunny Palm Beach time. Cleary he is there to get through the depo, then take full advantage of this sudden, welcome change of environment. Who wouldn’t take full advantage of a Palm Beach break in the middle of winter?
Party on Dude! . . . though at some points in depo video, it appears he may have already begun.
globewalker says: Folks, Yves clearly points readers to the 5 minute mark, where the actress breaks up. You were warned. This may be a bit more agitprop than you like, but hopefully it led some of you to read the depo.
Guys like this weren’t paid much. Yes, in a real depo, the guy would have dressed decently. But the guy doing this sort of work was working as a signing slave. And maybe this is a warning re taking what you see on TV too seriously. The actor being a woman is a problem in the staging (in term of this working as a fake), but it is interesting that it didn’t occur to any of you that it could be a transsexual.
Skippy says: ahem…I thought my comment pointed to that hilarious possibility…
“ROFLMAO…our dark MBS overlords are using oompa loompas under going a combo gene / hormone / skin bleaching therapy and that means Willy Wonka aint making chocolate any more…”
and the dockit slave aspect too, plus the abnormal / psychopathic nature of their bosses hence willy wonka…
Skippy…lol detractors above, what a bunch of dry toast.
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That can’t be real, can it?