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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsUhhh Mr. Holder---- How about starting from the top?
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Perhaps you remember Charlie Engle. I wrote about him not long after he entered a minimum-security facility in Beaver, W.Va., 16 months ago. Hes the poor guy who went to jail for lying on a liar loan during the housing bubble.
There were two things about Charlies prosecution that really bothered me. First, hed clearly been targeted by an agent of the Internal Revenue Service who seemed offended that Charlie was an ultramarathoner without a steady day job. The I.R.S. conducted Dumpster dives into his garbage and put a wire on a female undercover agent hoping to find some dirt on him. Unable to unearth any wrongdoing on his tax returns, the I.R.S. discovered he had taken out several subprime mortgages that didnt require income verification. His income on one of them was wildly inflated. They dont call them liar loans for nothing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/opinion/nocera-the-mortgage-fraud-fraud.html?_r=1&hp
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)Think back to the last time the federal government went after corporate crooks. It was after the Internet bubble. Jeffrey Skilling and Kenneth Lay of Enron were prosecuted and found guilty. Bernard Ebbers, the former chief executive of WorldCom, went to jail. Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco was prosecuted and given a lengthy prison sentence. Now recall which Justice Department prosecuted those men.
Amazing, isnt it? George W. Bush has turned out to be tougher on corporate crooks than Barack Obama.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/02/opinion/nocera-the-mortgage-fraud-fraud.html?_r=2&hp
bigtree
(85,915 posts). . . took some time to develop a case for prosecution.
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)I haven't heard a peep.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)after the S&L meltdown in the 90s.
rfranklin
(13,200 posts)That's the point that Joe Nocera is making...nothing much so far.
MannyGoldstein
(34,589 posts)There seems to be no interest in prosecuting *major* financial malfeasance today.
trumad
(41,692 posts)This meltdown made that one like a bump on a mosquitoes ass.
bigtree
(85,915 posts). . . possibly building and squeezing some folks to get at the higher-ups, like in Enron.
Who can say . . . but Holder has indicated that he's not just sitting still in investigating where he believes crimes have occurred. I don't think it's unusual to have time elapse between the crimes and prosecutions without as much of a peep until the indictments, so, I'd have to be a Justice Dept. insider to know what's coming next. I'm not one who buys into the argument that the Justice Dept. isn't interested in prosecutions. I don't think it's untoward or anything, though, to be impatient with the time elapsed without any clear indication anything substantial is going to come from Obama's Justice Dept.. I'm just not as much of a pessimist as some folks, and, I definitely do not subscribe to the charges that there's some insider-type conspiracy to shield anyone, either. So, here we are.
from a summary search . . .
President and CEO Eric A. Bloom indicted on federal fraud charges - accused in alleged $500 million fraud scheme before collapse of Sentinel Management in 2007
http://northbrook.patch.com/articles/northbrook-man-indicted-on-federal-fraud-charges