#ABACUS BANK COURT DATES TRIAL#

Though politics is not supposed to play a role in our justice system, we know that it does.

The Politics Involved in a White-Collar Case that are very revealing.įor me as a white-collar defense attorney, the film illuminates several things I see all the time in prosecutions of businesses and individuals accused of business crimes. There are also extended interviews with the attorneys on both sides, including Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.

#ABACUS BANK COURT DATES TRIAL#

Some of the best scenes from the film are around the dinner table when the father, Thomas Sung, who started the bank, talks trial strategy with his wife Hwei Lin Sung, and their three daughters Jill, Vera, and Chanterelle Sung, all of whom work for the bank in some capacity. The film does a great job showing what it’s like to be under the great weight of the State when it makes false allegations against you. The documentary has incredible access to the family in real time as the trial takes place. Yet this tight-knit, courageous family fights back to set the record straight for themselves and the Chinese-American community. As the film’s title indicates, unlike the high-powered big banks of Wall Street, this community bank appears to be “small enough to jail” for its purported role in the 2008 financial crisis. The film centers on how the Sungs, a Chinese-American immigrant family who runs a storied community bank in New York’s Chinatown (Abacus Federal Savings Bank), became the target of an overzealous prosecution by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

It is high in suspense, surprisingly funny, and has a certain charm to it despite the outrageous legal case that it depicts. If there’s one film from this year’s Oscars nominations that you should watch, it’s the documentary film Abacus: Small Enough to Jail.

Abacus bank court dates