At the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival, Steve James’ documentary “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” premiered with its focus on Abacus Federal Savings Bank, the only financial institution that was criminally indicted in the aftermath of the 2008 mortgage crisis. This crisis resulted in a banking emergency across the United States of America, which contributed to the recession.
In December 1984, Abacus Federal Savings Bank was founded by Thomas Sung (who immigrated to the United States of America when he was sixteen). Thomas Sung wanted to make a difference in his new home and he decided to do this by helping other immigrants in Manhattan’s Chinese community. Over the years, Mr. Sung has become an important figure in the community as he continued to support Chinese immigrants in their businesses by helping them take care of their financial needs. Eventually, Thomas Sung welcomed his daughters to the Abacus family.
This documentary explored the struggles that Thomas Sung and his family had to deal with when charges were filed against Abacus in 2012. Steve James exposes all aspects of this case as testimonies from both sides shed some light on what happened until the trial that took place in 2015.
The five year struggle that Abacus endured began when Vera Sung (Thomas’ daughter, Abacus’ director and closing attorney) had uncovered evidence of fraud within Abacus’ paperwork. The Sung family worked to rectify the fraud before it could get worse but everything snowballed from there. Believing that they were getting the resources they needed to set things right, Abacus was shocked in 2012 when Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. filed charges against Abacus.
It was a tough time for the Sung family as these charges were putting a damper on Abacus’ reputation. Not only did the charges affect the clientele at Abacus Federal Savings Bank (with many trying to flee and move their money elsewhere) but if Abacus was found guilty of the charges, it would shut this small financial institution down for good.
This documentary does a tremendous job in explaining the facts of what transpired as well as getting the stories of all parties involved. It exposes some of the shocking developments that came up during the case and the repercussions that came from it. It truly gets the audience invested in the case and the struggling journey that the Sung family had to endure to clear their name.
Director: Steve James
Country of Origin: USA
Language: English
Length: 88 minutes
Original Release: July 7, 2017
Publication Note:
This was published for AsianWave Magazine.
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