JOHN & RHETTA SWEENEY
24 Meyer Lane
Hamilton, MA 01982
508-468-1536
508-468-4428 (fax)
E-MAIL jsweeney@star.net
INTERNET http://www.qui-tam.com/

MEMORANDUM

Date:

December 5, 1997

TO:

U. S. House Government Reform and Oversight Committee

Representatives: Burton; Gilman; Hastert; Morella; Shays; Schiff; Cox; Ros-Lehtinen; McHugh; Horn; Mica; Davis; McIntosh; Souder; Scarborough; Shadegg; LaTourette; Sanford; Sununu; Sessions; Pappas; Snowbarger; Barr; Portman; Waxman; Lantos; Wise; Owens; Towns; Kanjorski; Condit; Maloney; Barrett; Norton; Fattah; Cummings; Kucinich; Blagojevich; Davis; Tierney; Turner; Allen; Ford.

SUBJECT:        COST TO TAXPAYERS

From:

John and Rhetta Sweeney

        We are under threat of armed U. S. Marshal action against our home and property because of our "whistleblower" efforts against the federal banking agencies.

        Please have this Memorandum serve as a request for immediate public hearings in order to investigate the fraud and abuse surrounding the state court case of John and Rhetta Sweeney and the larger body of information presented to several Congressional committees by Rhetta Sweeney. As whistleblowers, the Sweeneys continue to be subjected to abuse by the FDIC and their agents. For further information please refer to our web page. Go To: http://www.qui-tam.com

        The Sweeneys filed a law suit against ComFed Savings Bank on April 14, 1989. When the state court entered judgment against the ComFed defendants on January 30, 1991, the attorneys for the Bank went to the state court and falsely stated they were agents of the RTC and were authorized to take all of our original state court records. (Note: The FDIC closed ComFed on December 13, 1990 for reasons of unsafe and unsound lending practices). Our records were taken from the state court to the law offices of Hanify & King. For 26 days John Hanify of Hanify & King attempted to conceal the existence of the judgment entered against his ComFed clients. This is a felony under Massachusetts and federal law.

Hanify & King continued to represent the RTC in our case ( a violation of the CFR and FDIC/RTC's own rules) until August of 1992, at which point they were replaced by the firm of Nutter, McClennen & Fish. The firm of Ropes & Gray were also hired to represent the RTC in our action in 1991. Nutter, McClennen & Fish are still being paid to cover up the fraud committed against the Sweeneys to date, December 5, 1997.

        The FDIC/RTC have at all times since January of 1991 gone to extraordinary means to conspire with the law firms of Hanify & King; Ropes & Gray; and Nutter, McClennen & Fish covering up and obstructing justice surrounding the scheme of fraud by ComFed, including the handling of the Sweeney's valid state court judgment. The American taxpayer and the Sweeneys need to know WHY.

Please consider the following expenses to the taxpayers because of ComFed's failure, and legal fees paid to three Boston law firms who have been hired and paid by the FDIC/RTC to continue the cover up the fraud committed against the Sweeneys after the Sweeney judgment was entered in the state court:

1.        Freedom of Information Act

        Cost to the taxpayer for failure of ComFed Savings Bank
        $828,400,000. (millions)

See Appendix Index "T" supporting statement by Rhetta B. Sweeney Before the United States Senate Sub-Committee of Government Oversight Hearings of January 31, 1995, at 2 P.M.

2.        Fees PAID to three Boston law firms to cover up the known fraud committed against the Sweeneys after the 45 page opinion was entered in favor of the Sweeneys against the ComFed defendants, to include but not limited to:
nbsp;      NOTE: dollar amounts for legal fees through 1994. . . .
Freedom of Information Act
Legal fees:

Hanify & King --			$155,402.07
Ropes & Gray --			$ 22,131.15
Nutter, McClennen & Fish --			$884,527.63

See Appendix Index at "U" supporting statement by Rhetta B. Sweeney Before the United States Senate Sub-Committee of Government Oversight Hearings of January 31, 1995, at 2 P.M.

        In addition – after the Senate hearings of January, 1995, the RTC paid Nutter, McClennen & Fish legal fees of $427,271.00 for 1995.
        

Total fees to above law firms as of 12-31-95

$1,489,331.85

Nutter, McClennen & Fish continue to represent the FDIC in their action against us. The legal fees for 1996 and 1997 are unavailable at this time.

3.        Sweetheart deals with investment bankers: Sale of ComFed Mortgage Company, Inc. Servicing Portfolio to: Goldman Sachs ( one of the alleged owners of the Federal Reserve) and Lomas Mortgage USA:

August 3, 1991
        Freedom of Information Act
ComFed Mortgage Co. Inc., (Subsidiary of ComFed Savings Bank) portfolio of $1,238,105,000 -- sold to Goldman Sachs, N. Y. for $182,000,000. (15 cents on the dollar)

        August 31, 1991
ComFed Mortgage Co. Inc., (Subsidiary of ComFed Savings Bank) portfolio of $2,420,457,000 -- sold to Lomas Mortgage USA, in Dallas, TX for $218,500,000. (9 cents on the dollar)

        See Appendix Index at "V" supporting statement by Rhetta B. Sweeney Before the United States Senate Sub-Committee of Government Oversight Hearings of January 31, 1995, at 2 P.M.

4.        A settlement agreement, signed by an unidentified attorney of the RTC, literally lets the worst wrongdoer, James G. Baldini, the former CEO of ComFed Mortgage, off the hook for a measly $100,000 in cash and a promissory note for $185,000. In one year alone 1985 Baldini was paid a base salary of $360,000 and a bonus of  $2,944,381, totaling $3,304,381, the following years his base salary remained at $360,000 but his bonus was capped at $800,000 in 1986, $1,300,000 in 1987 and $1,350,000 in 1988 respectively. On top of letting Baldini off with a clearly di minimis payment, the agreement purports to provide a "bar" to anyone suing him (it could be seen as an agreement by RTC/FDIC to indemnify him, too, but this would be outrageous).
What is wrong with this picture? Total compensation to Baldini over four years was $7,834,381. When ComFed failed it cost the taxpayer a reported $828,000,000, yet the RTC settles for only $285,000. They signed a document called "The Compromised Settlement Agreement and Release" that was entered into on November 20, 1995, just 40 days BEFORE the RTC went out of business as of December 31, 1995.

We look forward to assisting your committee as "whistleblowers" exposing the atrocities we and all taxpayers have suffered at the hands of the individuals who ran ComFed and it's subsidiary companies as a criminal enterprise and the subsequent cover up of the white collar crimes by the federal banking agencies.

Respectfully submitted,


Rhetta & John Sweeney
Under threat of armed U. S. Marshal possession of our home and property, because of illegal actions by the federal banking agencies in Hamilton, MA.

December 5, 1997