MUST READ: Bopfan posts re: today's hearing:
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Bop,
Can the FDIC sieze WMI's money if ruled in our favor? That comment shocked me from the FDIC's attorney.
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bopfan: No, no, and no. The $ is property of the estate and to interfere with it in any way would be a violation of a court order. The FDIC lawyer was making the emptiest threat I've ever heard used in litigation.
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marymbobh: Judge Walrath said she would take the matter under advisement and issue a ruling as soon as possible. Of course we don't know how the judge will rule but, if the judge were going to deny the motion outright, she probably would have just ruled from the bench and said 'Motion is Denied.' Since she did not do that, the outcome for the debtors is looking pretty good, as even JPM probably agrees with. I'm wondering if JPM might do something desperate like empty the accounts and give the money to the FDIC-Receiver and then leave WAMUQ with an empty sack if they get possession of the accounts. While that would be damaging for our hopes in the short run, in the long run it would help us by showing the lengths that JPM and the FDIC would go to conspire against WAMUQ and frustrate their estate and that would help us in DC Court and in the court of public opinion.
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bopfan:JPM CAN'T do that. The $ is property of the estate. Handing it to the FDIC would be violation of the automatic stay (so would the FDIC's receipt of the money; believe me, they wouldn't take it) and the sanctions would be fearsome, not to mention the penalties for violating the court's order to pay the $ to WMI.
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"They proved they are willing to play dirty and do whatever it takes to keep that money in JPMs hands, at one point even mumbling 'We can tell them not to give the money to WMI and allow them to hold onto it'."
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bopfan: I said months ago I wasn't impressed by the 'bankruptcy' lawyers chosen by the FDIC. I suspect the firm (DLA Piper) has a lot of lobbying business in Washington and that's how it got the FDIC's business. For the upteenth time, if I were the FDIC I would never have chosen these lawyers; they have no standing at the bankruptcy bar.
Anyway the dummy who said this needs to become acquianted with the Bankruptcy Code, because, as I wrote to Mary a few minutes ago, such an action would result in the FDIC being held in contempt of court (possibly including jail) and heavy sanctions. I suspect this idiot knew he did not have the power when he made the threat, he just couldn't help being nasty; people tend to do that when they're cornered.
Life's a garden. Dig it.
BOULDER
