In the last episode, Orlando Carter denied having a $4 million loan with PNC Bank. If Mr. Carter is telling the truth, why did PNC claim that the loan existed? Why did bank officials assert that the funds were stolen?
Either PNC lied or Mr. Carter is lying. What is the truth?
Since the FBI and DOJ investigated PNC's accusations and confirmed the loan existed, then Orlando Carter MUST BE guilty, right? No. The fact is that the FBI and DOJ never asked PNC for proof of the loan. Moreover, the FBI did not ask other government agencies to confirm the existence of the loan. Finally, the FBI and DOJ did not conduct a forensic financial audit of either PNC or Mr. Carter.
Without accomplishing any of these three options, the Federal Government must have gratuitously accepted that the loan existed and Carter stole the money.
This episode is packed with information and an amazing revelation!
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In the last episode of “Where are the Heroes?”, we learned that in 2007 PNC Bank submitted a Suspicious Activity Report to the Federal Government alleging that Orlando Carter (which includes his company CBST Acquisitions LLC) had a $4 million loan with the bank and stole the funds. PNC’s claims resulted in a federal investigation by the FBI and DOJ with both agencies affirming PNC’s accusations. However, we heard Orlando Carter’s declarations at the end of the first podcast that he did not have a loan with PNC and did not steal $4 million.
Naturally, anyone hearing these conflicting positions would have questions.
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· Did PNC lie?
· Was there a $4 million loan?
· Did Orlando Carter steal the money?
· Did the FBI agents and US Attorney validate the loan during their investigations?
· Why would Orlando Carter claim his innocence if he was guilty?
· Who are we to believe?
· What is the truth?
Like any mystery or crime in need of resolution, if we proceeded with a grounded sense of direction, if we subjected the various elements of this tragedy, akin to using a centrifuge machine, we could separate fact from fiction, lies from truth. The Federal Government has jurisdiction over national banks and was responsible for investigating PNC’s allegations. To arrive at the truth, we would be well served by asking macro queries, those all-important queries which should have been posed by the FBI and DOJ early in their investigation.
What are those macro interrogatories? “What is PNC’s motivation?” for example. If the bank’s goal was to recover $4 million, the next question for the FBI to ask PNC would have been, “Where is the evidence which supports the allegation that Carter was responsible for a loan? Where is the proof of the theft?”
FBI agents could and should have confirmed the existence of this $4 million loan by securing certified and authenticated records from PNC Bank. Now, if the FBI had secured this evidence directly from PNC, and the loan was valid, the next query would have been, “Why is PNC Bank not filing a civil suit against Orlando Carter?” In other words, isn’t the loan transaction a civil and commercial matter? What did Carter do that required a criminal probe?
When a bank and its customers transact business, and the terms of the obligations of either party are not honored, the proper venue for resolution would be a court of law with the filing of a civil action for recovery and damages. This point is so fundamental that not posing this critical query invites doubt into the FBI’s own motivations and process. In fact, if the FBI did not ask for the original loan documents, we would consider this to be a critical flaw in the investigation. Thus, we have a straightforward two-step process. The FBI should have confirmed the existence of the loan and then validated that a crime had been committed.
Let’s consider a practical example. When someone buys a car and a bank provides the loan for the purchase, that person would have a commercial relationship with the bank. If the customer then failed to honor the terms of the loan, the bank would have recourse to protect its interests. The bank would file a civil suit and recover the vehicle which would be sold to recover most of the funds. In this example, there is and would be no criminal act or intent. There is no mens rea or actus reus. There is only a borrower who is unable to pay back the principal and interest and a bank that wants to reduce its losses.
Now, let’s suppose that the customer knowingly entered false information onto the loan application or secured funds under false pretenses. Under these circumstances, the bank would have legitimate grounds to pursue criminal charges. However, there would have been a loan.
In the case against Carter, we are questioning whether Carter ever applied for a loan. As such, if the FBI did not secure proof of the $4 million loan, this would jeopardize the integrity of its investigation from the outset. Any subsequent findings by the FBI would be skewed and certainly not the truth.
Let’s look at this topic from a different angle. If the FBI did not confirm the loan with PNC Bank, the agents could have requested assistance from the Department of the Treasury. It is beyond dispute that the United States Government is a single entity. This fact necessitates that in all federal actions the Government must be united. Separate federal agencies cannot have varied positions about a particular topic.
For example, if the Department of Commerce asserts a position about a fact that is contrary to the position of the Department of Energy, the government is not acting as one. If the Secretary of State says that America is at war with Iran, but the Secretary of Defense disputes this claim, the United States Government is not operating effectively. Clearly, there cannot be disparities among agencies. And if there are disparities, there must be resolved by a process that is used to clarify such conflicts,
The same holds true for the FBI and DOJ. Since the FBI is the investigative arm of the DOJ, the FBI cannot state a position that is contrary to the DOJ. They must act as one.
Regarding PNC’s claims against Orlando Carter, if the FBI had contacted the Department of the Treasury and asked for proof of the $4 million loan between PNC an Orlando Carter, and if the Department of Treasury validated that there was no such loan, the investigative arm of the DOJ would have had an inherent obligation to investigate and either refute or acknowledge the Treasury’s determination. The FBI and DOJ cannot ignore proof provided by the Treasury Department that there was no loan, and The DOJ cannot state that there was a loan. Such an assertion would be false, an outright lie.
Without complicating this discussion unnecessarily, there is yet a third observation that must be weighed. The Federal Government, given its vast resources, and considering the size and scope of the Department of Justice, could have conducted a forensic financial audit of either or both PNC Bank and Orlando Carter. Such an audit, a reasonable and expected extension of any financial criminal investigation, would have arrived at hard numbers which confirmed or denied the existence of a $4 million loan.
Given the foregoing discussion, we have a concrete understanding that the FBI had the opportunity to validate the existence of loan documents between Carter and PNC with three methods. 1) seeking certified records from the bank directly, 2) asking the Department of the Treasury to confirm the existence of the loan, or 3) conducting a financial forensic audit of either or both parties.
Now, let’s ask the rather obvious question. Regarding Orlando Carter’s claim of innocence and PNC criminal allegations, what did the FBI do? Orlando has vehemently professed his innocence since the PNC made its false allegation. Did the FBI and DOJ confirm or deny the existence of the $4 million loan? If so, how?
I will assert here and now that the FBI and DOJ did not confirm the existence of the loan. The FBI and DOJ did not:
1) Seek confirmation from the Department of the Treasury;
2) Ask PNC Bank for certified records;
3) Conduct a financial forensic audit of either Carter or PNC.
The significance of these assertions is monumental. How is it possible for one of the largest criminal investigative agencies in the world NOT to establish fundamental findings by conducting a competent investigation? Since the FBI did not use any of the three methods discussed to validate the existence of the loan, we must conclude that the most basic and objective protocols were ignored. The FBI did not validate the credibility of PNC’s claims. The FBI did not dignify Carter’s claim of innocence.
I will explain why I am certain of the FBI’s and DOJ’s neglect; but for now, we must ask what the FBI did in its preliminary investigative proceedings. I will state it this way. The FBI and DOJ automatically and gratuitously presumed Orlando Carter was guilty and, therefore, presumed the claims of a billion-dollar bank were true, that there was a loan, and the funds were stolen.
Since we are approaching our review of the FBI’s investigation of PNC’s claims from the macro perspective, I will disclose how I know the FBI and DOJ did not conduct competent investigations with the three-foregoing option.
In 2016, as Orlando Carter’s Power-of-Attorney, I submitted a request to the Department of the Treasury through the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, known as the OCC, for proof of the $4 million loan with PNC Bank. The OCC is the office within the Department of Treasury that is responsible for providing oversight of national banks. The OCC investigates claims from customers against national banks. The OCC ensures that financial institutions do not run afoul of laws and regulations. To be sure, these financial institutions must respond to the OCC.
Once the OCC received our correspondence, this agency contacted PNC Bank officials and asked for proof of the $4 million loan. An official from PNC Bank by the name of Aaron Bailey, with the Executive Client Relations Department, responded to the OCC by referring to a lesser loan for $250,000 dated December 31, 2003. He said, “This is the only debt that we have on file.” The OCC sent us a letter dated January 30, 2017 and repeated exactly what was disclosed by PNC. As is evident, PNC Bank admitted to an earlier loan in the amount of $250,000 and stated this was the only debt it had on file. Undoubtedly, there was no $4 million loan.
Not satisfied with the OCC’s conclusion and PNC’s admission, we sent another request to the OCC. Specifically, we wanted certified and authenticated bank records as validation that there was no $4 million loan. The OCC replied on March 2, 2017 and clarified that “the OCC does not require the bank to submit a “certified and authenticated record.” The OCC’s conclusion, which is based upon PNC admissions, is nothing less than earth-shattering. The Department of the Treasury confirmed there was no $4 million loan.
Based upon the responses received by the OCC, let’s return to the FBI’s role and ask the same questions. Did the FBI ask the Department of Treasury for proof of the loan? No. Did the FBI ask PNC Bank for proof of the loan? No. And since there could not have been a $4 million loan, we must conclude that the FBI never conducted a forensic financial audit of either PNC or Orlando Carter. With these answers, we are left with but one conclusion. The FBI gratuitously accepted PNC’s claim that there was a $4 million loan and that the funds were stolen.
At some point Americans must begin to shed their false illusions that the Federal Government and its agents are honest, reliable, and concerned about the truth. For this is not the case. The reality is that, though there may be decent and honorable officials and employees working for the Federal Government, there are many who are not. Many employees and officials act in a rogue manner.
In the Carter tragedy, the FBI and DOJ advanced PNC’s lies instead of using PNC Bank and the OCC to find the truth. The result is that rogue federal personnel ignored the truth by not seeking the truth. This dynamic prevents separate federal agencies from speaking as one.
Even worse for Carter, the DOJ should have conducted its own investigation without relying upon the findings of the FBI. In fact, this is expected and required. The United States Attorney should not presume the FBI’s conclusions are absolute. As a failsafe measure, the US Attorney provides oversight by confirming or refuting the supposed evidence collected and given by the FBI.
If the FBI advanced its false conclusions to the office of the United States Attorney of the Southern District of Ohio, and the US Attorney did not contact the Department of the Treasury or PNC Bank, and since the US Attorney did not conduct a financial forensic audit, there was only one conclusion the US Attorney could have reached. The loan existed and the money was stolen. The US Attorney rubberstamped the FBI’s findings. With such a stacked deck, Orlando Carter was presumed guilty before the investigation began and that conclusion was never rectified in accordance with truth.
Now that we have this comprehensive overview of the three methods the Government could have used to confirm or deny the existence of a $4 million loan, we are ideally positioned to discuss several interactions that both Orlando Carter and I had with five PNC Bank officials in the years preceding the OCC investigation and findings.
In 2014, in response to correspondence sent to PNC Bank asking for proof of the alleged $4 million loan, Clinton Taylor stated that PNC Bank was not able to obtain information of a four-million-dollar loan guarantee.
In 2016, I spoke with PNC Attorney, David Zive, who responded by email and in a phone conversation that there was no $4 million loan and only a smaller loan for $250,000.
IN 2016, I spoke with Aaron Bailey, Executive Assistant with PNC Bank Client Relations, who stated by email and by phone call that there was no $4 million loan.
In 2016, in response to Carter’s request for certified and authenticated bank records validating the existence of a $4 million loan, Autumn Drdek, Records Custodian for PNC Bank, sent a document proving there was a smaller in the amount of $250,000 and no other loan.
In 2018, in response to Carter’s request for certified and authenticated records proving the existence of a $4 million loan, Cheryl Basko, Records Custodian for PNC Bank, sent a letter stating the existence of the loan for $250,000 and no other loan.
Given that Orlando and I were able to secure PNC’s admissions that there was no $4 million loan, and since the lack of a loan requires a conclusion that the money could not have been stolen, we must question why the FBI and DOJ acted with such gross disregard for the truth and internal procedures designed to ensure justice. How was injustice in Orlando Carter’s case ever possible? Perhaps the answer rests within the motivations of the FBI and DOJ.
If the motivations of federal agents were maligned from the beginning, they would not have readily detected the disingenuous motivations of PNC Bank. Stated simply, the Federal Government was unable to objectively assess PNC’s false claims. The federal agents were never primed to presume Carter’s innocence. The US Attorney – the top prosecutor responsible for bringing criminal charges against private citizens – would not have been ready, willing, and able to seek the truth. And what is a prosecutor’s goal but to seek the truth. This is a prosecutor’s most sacred endeavor.
This is, quite frankly, an amazing discovery. The reality is that the United States Government is as effective as one single FBI agent or one United States Attorney. If a singular government official or employee is incorrect from the beginning, the conclusion will be tragic. If an agent has inconsistent motives from his primary mission, the results will be unfortunate. Truth, justice, and private citizens are the victims. Orlando Carter was a victim.
In this episode, we learned that the FBI and DOJ never confirmed that the $4 million loan did not exist, which means that there could not have been theft of the money.
In the next episode, we will discuss the investigation by the FBI and the DOJ with Orlando Carter. We will also learn about his defense lawyers’ attempts to fight on his behalf.
Until then… may TRUTH reign supreme!
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