johnsonmarques-83144 UNBELIEVABLE! I have never written a review but feel compelled to by the emotional response and anger this documentary has stirred. It is a well-done documentary, and I guess I am just shocked by its content. I have studied the 2008 financial crisis extensively. I had no idea this happened. The US government and the New York DA's office should be absolutely ashamed. The fact that this happened makes me disappointed in my government. Part of me is holding some hope that the documentary is extremely biased and one sided (though I do not believe this is true). It makes me physically ill to think that the large financial institutions such as Citi Group, Bank of America, JP Morgan, etc., got away with what they did in causing the financial crisis and our government spent its resources persecuting this small family run community bank. Unbelievable.

ryanlaurencecole I want to be careful to ensure my opinion of the doc isn't just my opinion of the subject. I don't think the subjects of the doc are admirable or deserve to be felt sorry for. The doc however, does a good job of introducing the players and explaining each of their association with the bank and family who runs it. I found myself getting distracted by the numerous scenes showing the family talking over each other and communicating nothing. I wanted to know more about the the effect on the trial on the community instead. Although this isn't my favourite doc of the year, I certainly think it's worth a watch.

wkcranberry This movie is about a community savings bank in NYC servicing the Chinese immigrant community.The Bank had a deposit run in 2003 after news broke that a rogue employee had stolen money from the bank, and that run nearly closed the bank and required millions in expenses to fix. Likely as a result of the losses, the bank needed to find offsetting income and focused on real estate lending and then selling loans made to Fannie Mae. The Bank made good income on such activities beginning in 2009.At most community banks including Abacus, commissions are paid to lower and mid-level loan officers of the bank to find loans which are profitable to the bank when sold, but unfortunately some greedy and unscrupulous or lowly scrupulous loan officers will coach loan applicants on how to game the system to obtain a loan that they do not qualify. At Abacus, rogue loan officers did exactly that by coaching loan applicants how to lie on applications whether by false income or collateral.It is the responsibility of the independent underwriting team at the Bank to check and double check those facts. In this movie, the prosecution tries show that the Bank and senior officers were complicit in making fraudulent loans by not catching the false applications. The trial lasted more than 2 months with witness after witness admitting the information in their application was false though not always with the help of the lower bank officer. So the question was should the bank and higher officers be found guilty of fraud for not catching this. I believe the jury reached the correct verdict, though neither the Sungs nor the DA should be in the clear for noncriminal wrongdoing. The DA for being too ambitious to make a big name for himself and the Sungs for not being more vigilant in their pursuit of the gold. The trial cost the bank and Sungs millions, and as a result the Bank entered a formal agreement with the OCC to improve profitability after losses related to the trial costs. It was interesting that Jill Sung, President did not testify in the trial and that she works in a Chinese bank not being able to speak Chinese. Mrs. Sung was right that banking should have been left to others.

johnsonalg This film received a standing ovation at the Chicago International Film Festival. At the Q and A after the film the family was as genuine as in the movie. Not only is this a story about government picking on the small guy (small by banking standards) but also a nice movie about immigration and family values. The entire movie was shot while filmmaker Steve James (Hoop Dreams) was unaware if the family or bank would be found innocent or guilty of mortgage fraud. Unfortunately the court proceedings are represented by paintings and live audio, but you still get the feeling of being in the courtroom. Even a couple of jurors are interviewed. Do not expect to sit on the edge of your seat with anxiety but a very interesting, thoughtful film