On September 26, Israel Hechter, the owner of San Diego investment firms Ocean 18 LLC and Note Tracker Corp., pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank bribery and tax evasion in connection with illicit payments he made to bank insiders at J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, GMAC Mortgage, LLC, and National City Bank. According to his plea agreement, in exchange for the bribes, the bankers arranged for Hechter to win bids to purchase mortgage loans issued by the banks and sold on the secondary market. In order to make sure that Hechter’s bids won, the bankers corrupted the process by altering bids, rejecting other bids, and erasing or ignoring bids from qualified competitors. The bankers also rigged the bidding by supplying Hechter with confidential information about prices and competing bids. United States v. Israel Hechter, 14 Cr. 2703 (S.D. Cal.) FBI Press Release
