A Global Research article by Sarah Carlson (originally published by Liberation) entitled “American Dream”: Food loaded into Dumpsters while Hundreds of Hungry Americans Restrained by Police (April 05, 2013), brings to the forefront the pernicious role of America’s “Too Big to Fail Too Big to Jail” mega-banks.

“Hundreds of poor people waiting outside of a closed grocery store for the possibility of getting the remaining food is not the picture of the “American Dream.” Yet on March 23, outside the Laney Walker Supermarket in Augusta, Ga., that is exactly what happened.”

The grocery store in Augusta, Georgia is one among thousands of small businesses across the Southern States which are routinely speared-headed into bankruptcy.

SunTrust Bank had ordered the eviction of the owner and the confiscation of all the assets.

While “residents filled the parking lot with bags and baskets hoping to get some of the baby food, canned goods, noodles and other non-perishables” SunTrust had ordered that all the food “be loaded into dumpsters and hauled to a landfill instead of distributed.”

“People got children out here that are hungry, thirsty,” local resident Robertstine Lambert told Fox54 in Augusta. “Why throw it away when you could be issuing it out?”

Throwing away food recalls the words of John Steinbeck, in The Grapes of Wrath (1939):

“There is a crime here that goes beyond denunciation. There is a sorrow here that weeping cannot symbolize. …. And children dying of pellagra must die because a profit cannot be taken from an orange. And coroners must fill in the certificates—died of malnutrition—because the food must rot, must be forced to rot … and in the eyes of the people there is a failure; and in the eyes of the hungry there is a growing wrath. In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage.” (See Occupy Wall Street, Georgia)

Augusta Chronicle. Residents and local police

SunTrust Bank: Financial Abuse

SunTrust bank is a subsidiary of Suntrust Bank Inc. It is among the largest banks in the US with assets in excess of US$170 billion. It operates more than 1600 bank branches across the Southern states.

What SunTrust has inflicted on the residents of Augusta, Georgia is part of a broader pattern of abuse and financial manipulation.

SunTrust was among the main financial actors involved in the Housing and Mortgage meltdown which swept across the US at the height of the financial crisis.

Based on recent data, SunTrust continues to trigger foreclosures and bankruptcies of small and medium sized enterprises.

SunTrust is among the ten top banks currently foreclosing the most homes in the US together with Bank America, JPMorgan Chase, New York Mellon and Citigroup.

“More than 6,000 loans serviced by SunTrust Banks Inc. (NYSE: STI) were in foreclosure as of February [2013]. Like most U.S. banks, SunTrust has been embroiled in controversy over its lending and foreclosure practices in recent years. SunTrust was one of five major lenders that in November agreed to pay a combined $162 million to settle complaints that it charged improper fees on home finance loans for veterans. Earlier in 2012, the bank agreed to pay $21 million to settle allegations that it overcharged more than 20,000 Hispanic and African American borrowers between 2005 and 2009.”247wallst.com, March 12, 2013

Thousands of households which had mortgages with SunTrust continue to lose their homes as a result of the bank’s foreclosure procedures.

These families have been precipitated into poverty. Many of the hungry people in America referred to in Sarah Carlson’s article had mortgages with SunTrust, and lost their homes during the foreclosure crisis.

The Record of Paperwork Manipulation

The practices of SunTrust Mortgage (an affiliate of SunTrust) are well documented in complaints filed with the Better Business Bureau. Comments by SunTrust customers pertaining to Mortgages recorded on the Consumer Affairs website point to a practice of paperwork manipulation:

“Good luck to all who have to deal with this nightmare of a bank!”

“They should be charged with some criminal fraud for misrepresentation.”

We did everything the right way and have only gotten 14 months of lies and running in circles.

What they are doing should be against the law. They just play with your emotions!

A selection of comments from Consumer Affairs is included below:

Kimberly of Lansdale, PA on March 22, 2013 I share the same horror stories as everyone else regarding this mortgage company[ SunTrust]! My situation consisted of falling behind on my mortgage. Customer service’s answer to me was to sell my home if I can’t afford to live there. Helpful? No. I was put into a forbearance payment plan that started out only being a 3-month thing that I was told I had to prove that I made my payments in order to get approved. This lasted 16 months. The payments started out small that eventually went up to my original mortgage payment I couldn’t afford to begin with. Then after calling every week for almost a year and getting different answers every time I called, I decided to put my house on the market. I had a buyer who was approved for his loan and Suntrust wouldn’t take his offer which was only $25,000 less than what I owed on mortgage to complete this short sale. While house still listed, my realtor took someone to show the house and locks had been changed on my doors. No one contacted my realtor knowing the house was up for short sale. Oh, it gets better. My house has been in my name for 4 years just sitting there empty! This house has been in foreclosure for 4 years and they just keep trying to dig deeper to destroy my life and credit! Oh, trust me when I tell you this is war! I am not going to let these non-educated people get away with this. How could you run a mortgage company with people who don’t have any knowledge of mortgages? Good luck to all who have to deal with this nightmare of a bank! David of Galesburg, IL on March 4, 2013