If you could convict Ken Lay over things his subordinates did and his own "we won't stop trying to save this company and I'm confident we will succeed" statements, it's pretty surprising that not a single banking CEO has faced a similar fate.
But no jail time doesn't mean nothing... the government is looking to civil, rather than criminal penalties....
September 19, 2013
"Lehman Brothers failed 5 years ago, and the statute of limitations for most federal crimes is 5 years..."
"... so the retrospectives are full of recountings of the fact that no one important has been prosecuted over what happened...."
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Politicians need money to campaign.
Wealthy bankers have lots of money to contribute.
Any "civil penalty" will be less than the money that the banker would blow on his daughter's 16th birthday party.
I've never been able to figure out what, exactly, crimes were supposedly committed for which people should be going to jail in these cases. I'm open to reading a detailed description that cites actual criminal laws and explains how they were violated, but as far as I can tell most people complaining about lack of jail time are pretty much stuck on "MAD" "EVIL" "PUNISH"!
Bad and risky decisions are not necessarily crimes.
I will not be happy until Jon Corzine (ex D-Sen)(ed D-Governor) pays for his fraud on investors.
I shouldn't be cynical, but as I get a bit older, it seems to creep up on me. But, I can't help but think that if the DoJ were not as corrupt as it has gotten under Eric Holder, that maybe some higher ups might have been pursued. The deep dark secret is that those bankers from Lehman Brothers, etc. were apparently much more likely to contribute to Dems than Reps, and the Obama Administration, at least initially, was filled with people from the investment banking sector.
Probably not surprised today, after seeing that Lois Lerner is still on the payroll, to see that a DoJ supervisory attorney, who was severely reprimanded by a court for unethically sending police to prison by illegally leaking internal affairs investigation information to the public is still on the payroll at $155k or so a year. Several under her were fired, but she has kept her job. Of course, being a LGBT activist in the Civil Rights Division helps.
As is pretty obvious by now - we seem to have the most corrupt Department of Justice at least during most of our lives. Can't think of any that come anywhere close. So, not the least bit surprised that the Holder DoJ has not bothered going after a sector of the economy that has and group of people who have contributed so much to the Dem Party over the last couple of decades.
BTW - somewhat related, but still awaiting the indictment of Jon Corzine. Not holding my breath though, as I doubt that the DoJ would indict him if he were caught red handed on video robbing the neighborhood bank.
Seeing as the government lied to us about the mortgage fraud cases, I'm leery about a new witch hunt.
If the good Professor or anybody posting here knew exactly what the government said/did during the "melt down" there would be general shock.
But there's a "Bank Regulators' Privilege" so the documents can be concealed from public view. FOIA won't get you the documents.
An enterprising journalist could win a Pulitzer and expose real corruption. My money is on "lazy, stupid journalists support Big Government as a philosophical matter" and won't dig where the digging would matter.
YMMV
This is the first major financial crisis in the country's history in which there is no one to blame, apparently. As Holder put it, these guys are just too big to prosecute since that might adversely affect the economy as a whole. The "civil" penalties amount to a service charge to defraud the country.
Compare and contrast the S&L problem in the '80s: Hundreds of people involved in that went to jail. If all you have to do is pay a fine that amounts to a tiny percentage of your illegal gains, where is motivation to stop? From Wall Street's point of view, the money donated to politicians, including the president and others on the left, has been money well spent.
Barney Frank and Chris Dodd should be first in line and that's never going to happen. If any cases go to court the government's and Fannie /Freddie's roles are going to be clearly spelled out and that isn't going to happen either.
Does anyone really think that the party of the .10% is really going to go after their own? They already got theirs so screw you.
Criminal cases cost money. Civil cases collect money.
The government needs money.
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