Not a larouchite. Good article. so far you've had the pirate distraction and now the flu distraction. Nothing has been made of this story
LaRouche Calls for Thorough Investigation of Death of Freddie Mac CFO April 23, 2009 (LPAC)—Lyndon LaRouche today called for a general investigation of the death of Freddie Mac CFO, David Kellermann on Wednesday. LaRouche said: "Any attempt to cover up the implications of this case would attract great suspicion. There must be a clean and accurate account of this to the general public, particulary because of the frauds in this area by former US Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson and others. Nothing can be covered up. There must be full disclosure. We have the possible suicide of a key official and any such thing demands an investigation. He was in a sensitive position, which was under investigation. His death may now become a significant block to getting relevant information.
"The fact that he reportedly was not a target of the probe but knew things that investigators wanted to know and also the fact that he had hired a private security service for protection at his home should be part of the investigation.
"There can be no cover-up on a matter of such public concern. We are demanding an investigation, not asking for one. We are the only ones you can trust."
Kellermann, who on Tuesday discussed with the Freddie Mac's human resources department taking a week off due to stress, was involved in dealing with investigations into Freddie's accounting by the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Investigators have been questioning Freddie about possible accounting violations and other matters in recent months. Although reportedly not a target of the probe, one law enforcement source said, "He obviously knew about things that we would want to know about."
Kellermann, who was only 41, joined Freddie 16 years ago in 1992 and was named acting financial chief in late September, the fourth in less than six years. He was responsible for the company's financial controls, financial reporting, tax, capital oversight and compliance with federal oversight requirements, and oversaw the company's annual budgeting and financial planning processes. He had been a senior vice president and corporate controller.
With Kellermann's death, Freddie Mac is essentially operating on automatic pilot with no leadership. David Moffett, Freddie's CEO, resigned after just six months on the job. John Koskinen, its chairman was named interim CEO. No permanent replacement has been found. Gary Kain, who was the head of Freddie's investments and capital-markets operations, joined a private-equity firm early this year and Timothy Bitsberger, Freddie's treasurer, stepped down in November.
Last month Freddie said a $23.9bn fourth-quarter loss would require it to draw down $30.8bn of capital from the Treasury, but warned it would have difficulties paying the government back. The latest infusion brought the government's stake to $45.6bn of senior preferred stock, which pays a dividend of 10 per cent a year. Freddie said its ability to pay the government was limited, noting that it would owe $4.6bn in dividends annually—more than it has earned in most previous years. Freddie also said it was likely to record "significant losses" in coming years.
Most recently, Kellermann was involved in heated discussions with officials at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) over how to disclose the potential financial effects of the Obama Administration's unworkable plan to prevent millions of foreclosures. Kellermann and a group of company attorneys insisted that Freddie Mac inform shareholders of the cost to the company of helping carry out the Obama plan. The regulator urged the company not to do so, according to several sources. Freddie Mac ultimately made the disclosure. In an SEC filing last month Freddie said the Obama plan was likely to have a "significant adverse effect on our financial results or condition," notably on the valuation of guarantees the company has made on millions of mortgages. Freddie said in the filing that certain accounting rules could force the company to take a pretax charge against earnings of about $30 billion as a result of the Obama loan-modification plan.
