(Here's a peek at Peckinpaugh's resume... - promoted by ctblogger)
Well this didn't take long.. Prospective 2nd District candidate (and former news anchor) Janet Peckinpaugh recently (like a week ago) became a Republican and is now being courted to run for Congress.
She must have blown away most of her multimillion dollar sexual harassment settlement because she recently decided to hook up with convicted mortgage fraudster Michael Ashley to sell mortgages in a deceptive television advertisement. Janet even called Ahsley's crooked deal a "bombshell." Bombshell indeed.
Ashley was later permanently banned from the industry by a federal court.
This wasn't Ashley's first run-in with mortgage fraud. Housingwire.com reveals that Ashley did jail time and faced other punishments for ripping off people (and the government) throughout the 90's:
According to the 155-page lawsuit against Ideal Mortgage Bankers and Ashley, the mortgage executive worked in a number of positions at mortgage firms, and by his own admission, committed his first act of mortgage fraud in 1989.
In 1991, Ashley and Liberty Mortgage Banking, a company his father owned, surrendered their New York mortgage licenses and Liberty gave up its status as a HUD-approved lender. In 1993, Ashley pled guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with multiple instances of mortgage fraud. In 1996, he was sentenced to five years probation, including two months home confinement and was ordered to pay restitution to Freddie Mac (FRE: 1.50 -2.60%). In 1994, Liberty was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud in a jury trial and in the same year, was sentenced to a $1m fine.
Despite his background and history of fraudulent behavior, and his temporary industry ban, Ashley continued to find work in the mortgage world. According to the lawsuit, from 1996 to 2001, Ashley increased loan volume 525% from $80m in loans to $500m loans during his second stint at Consumer Home Mortgage, where he served in a variety of roles, including sales manager, vice president of marketing, president and chief financial officer.
So while Joe Courtney was voting against bailing out the Wall Street frauds that swindled people out of their homes, Janet was out trying to rip off unsuspecting homeowners again.
Given her willingness to work for fraudsters, one has to wonder if she'll put her own financial well being ahead of the people she hopes to represent. Clearly she had no problem taking money from a felon when it suited her purposes...
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