Maxine Waters’ Favorite Bank Violated Its Pledge to Help the Poor

The Boston bank that is at the center of controversy involving Congresswoman Maxine Waters, who intervened with regulators to protect and reward the bank (her husband had a financial interest in the bank), apparently lied about helping poor people, reports the Boston Globe:

{snip} [OneUnited’s] president pledged to make loans worth hundreds of millions of dollars across Boston, with a special emphasis on low-income borrowers.

OneUnited said it would partner with the city to offer the mortgages to first-time and current homeowners, and provide financial literacy training to residents. {snip}

But no loan program ever emerged–one in a long list of failures by the nation’s largest minority-owned bank, which is controlled by Williams and her [Maxine Waters’s] husband, Kevin Cohee, the bank’s chairman.

{snip}

The spin that the bank would help the poor acquire housing and jobs was just that: spin. A few dollars trickled out to help some poor people–but not in Boston, Miami, or Los Angeles, where it opened offices. But large sums did go to wealthy developers in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, executives rewarded themselves with fancy cars and high salaries. The president had run-ins with the law; a sexual assault allegation (dropped) and a drug charge that was dropped after he agreed to counseling. The plight of the poor was a ruse to ransack.

{snip} She [Maxine Waters] should be ashamed, instead of defiant. And Congressman Barney Frank {snip} did favors to help her while attempting to keep her role hidden. He should be ashamed of himself, as well (let alone for his role in creating the housing crisis by his drive to promote home ownership among those who could not afford it).