There is no question the media would have pilloried Rudy Giuliani if he ever conducted a prosecution of an African American community bank in the manner District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr.’s office treated Abacus Federal Savings Bank. Of course, Vance is a Democrat and Abacus serves the residents of Chinatown, so the media can’t be bothered. However, documentarian Steve James delivers a stinging indictment of an unjust prosecution/persecution in “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail,” which opens Friday May 19 in New York.
Founded by Thomas Sung to serve the financial needs of the Chinatown community, Abacus was an American success story. It remains a family business managed by the Sungs’ grown daughters. Their only real mistake was hiring the duplicitous Ken Yu, who secretly solicited bribes and exploited his managers’ ignorance of his Chinese name to falsify loan documentation.
