Reply #34: Truthdigger of the Week: Judge Jed Rakoff {the arrival of a notable person}

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http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/truthdigger_of_the_... /

There are those occasions when the choice for Truthdigger of the Week is so clear that our tribute practically writes itself. This is one of those times, as this installment is about U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff, who consistently demonstrates that he’s game to take on some of the country’s most powerful and corrupt institutions and policies.

Judge Rakoff’s most recent action to grab our attention amounted to a very public, and deserved, embarrassment for both Citigroup and the Securities and Exchange Commission. As we summarized Monday, Rakoff rejected Citigroup’s attempt to evade culpability for swindling customers out of more than $700 million by selling them on bad investments in the mortgage market. Here’s how Forbes explained Citi’s initial offense.

Forbes:

The charges Citi is related to bets made by investors on the housing market that went bad when the bubble collapsed. In the years since the financial crisis, details have come forth about institutions that carefully selected securities in a portfolio, or allowed a client to do so, without notifying investors of the short bets made by those who picked the composition.

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This was bad enough, but strike two for Citigroup happened when the financial giant tried to take an all-too-familiar way out, with the SEC’s complicity, by agreeing to pay a settlement of $285 million and calling it a day. Although the proposed payment is substantially hefty, what this response doesn’t include is an actual admission of guilt.