Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Wall Street off the hook on criminal charges?


Though often blamed with making the calls that led the country to the brink of collapse, financial executives likely won't face criminal charges for their practices during the financial crisis, according to a former top U.S. investigator.
The Justice Department has decided that prosecution of financial executives is "better left to regulators" to take civil-enforcement actions, David Cardona, who was a deputy assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation until last month, told the Wall Street Journal....
Though the most egregious examples of financial regulators' softness may be related to the financial crisis, the pattern has been apparent for years. Federal prosecution of financial fraud is on track to fall to a 20-year low, according a recent report from Syracuse University. The number of these types of prosecutions has gotten smaller and smaller since 1999, the report found. [emphasis added]
Read the rest at The Huffington Post
Financial Executives Likely Won't Face Criminal Charges For Role In Financial Crisis: Former Investigator

The courts will be jammed with prosecuting protestors anyway. Why waste time with small potato white collar stuff, when it comes to prosecuting dangerous terrorists like protestors who have to be arrested using chemical agents, Hazmat suits, riot gear, and militarized domestic security forces. Let's keep some perspective here, after all.

UPDATE: Why no financial crisis prosecutions? Ex-Justice official says it’s just too hard
By Pro Publica

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