“The plan was to sell loans, collect commissions, and then walk away when the loans defaulted and let the bank fail. (The mafia calls this technique a ‘bust out.’)”

Clark M. weighs in on America’s financial crisis:
US Dollar

The collapse of the financial system is not an unfortunate by-product of deregulation; it was a cold and calculated criminal enterprise.

The conspirators had a dry run in Chicago in 2001. Close to 1,500 people lost much of their life savings when Superior Bank of Chicago went bankrupt with a billion dollars in deposits. The bank sold bonds secured by subprime mortgages. The plan was to sell loans, collect commissions, and then walk away when the loans defaulted and let the bank fail. (The mafia calls this technique a “bust out.”) In 2002 when this scheme was rolled out nationally, all 50 attorneys general pleaded with the George W Bush administration to stop the predatory lending practices they knew would lead to the collapse we see today. Instead of helping, in 2003 Bush invoked a clause from the 1863 National Bank Act nullifying all state predatory lending laws. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) also created new rules that prevented states from enforcing any of their own consumer protection laws against national banks.

- Clarke M. @ Gather.com: Link.

See also:

Superior Bank of Chicago @ Wikipedia