VIP loans investigated by committee for ethics on Senate

Many of those in Washington DC are concerned about the ethics of VIP cash loans their staff has. These “VIP” or “sweetheart” loans were all made by Countrywide, which was most recently purchased by Bank of The US. These VIP cash advances may end up causing ethical or legal problems for a couple of senators.

VIP loan given out by Countrywide

In documents most recently released by Bank of The US, it was revealed that Countrywide wrote a huge number of “sweetheart” loans. These low interest rate, no credit check loan products appear to are targeted to senators’ staffs. Republican Senator Issa, who filed an ethics complaint stemming from these loans, points out a “high concentration” of loans to D.C. staffers. Many feel these loans were written because Countrywide wanted some influence within the white house with some senators. The loans were made mostly in 2002 and 2003.

Complaints about ethics and loans

Senator Issa filed the ethics complaints against several senators. These reports which were filed caused Senator Dodd and Senator Conrad to be “scolded” by the Ethics committee, although that’s the extent of it. Within the scolding, they were told to “be more careful to keep away from the appearance of favoritism from Countrywide.” Despite the scolding, both senators were cleared of actual rules violations. Probably the most recent ethics complaint being made blames Senator Robert Bennett. Twelve of the 30 named “VIP loans” went to members of his staff.

Loan recipients names

The investigation on Countrywide VIP cheap loans is being done by an Oversight and Government Reform committee from the Senate. Bank of The United States has to give the government all documents involving VIP loans that they have incorporated anything that has “US Senate” written down as their employer. Anything received from Countrywide was already given to the government by Bank of American and 37,000 documents are what they have received so far. If the names come out, then the upcoming election could possibly be detrimental for some.

Issue discussed by Senator Burnett

In detail, Republican Senator Burnett, retiring, spoke about the ethics complaint filed against him. Senator Burnett informed every person that he doesn’t pay any attention to where his employers put their money or take their money from. Mortgages and unsecured personal loans they received are none of his business so he never made it his business.