Corporate Crime without Conviction

[rman]

"KPMG admits its criminal wrongdoing in this tax shelter fraud that cost the government 2.5 Billion dollars (...) Was there a conviction? No. The company was charged with a felony and the government gave them a deferred prosecution agreement. These kinds of agreements were intended for juvenile delinquents, to clear the courts of minor issues."

"...of the 34 cases that we could identify, 23 of them have come in the last 3 years. That's twice as many as in the previous ten years."


Democracy Now
Crime without Conviction: U.S. Makes Deals With Corporate Criminals Instead of Prosecuting
Thursday, December 29th, 2005
www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/29/151220
(audio, video)

"Corporations that commit securities and accounting fraud can now expect to get sweetheart deals from the Justice Department, and they don't face public exposure for their misdeeds. We speak with Russell Mokhiber of Corporate Crime Reporter (www.corporatecrimereporter.com)."

"A report released yesterday found that under a new policy implemented by the Justice Department in 2003, a number of major corporations caught committing serious crimes have not been prosecuted or convicted by the U.S government. The report, titled, "Crime without Conviction: The Rise of Deferred and Non-Prosecution Agreements" by the watch-dog group, Corporate Crime Reporter, named 34 major corporations that have entered into special deals with the U.S government."

"Under these deals, prosecutors agree not to criminally prosecute the corporation in exchange for cooperation against executives, implementation of corporate monitors and fines. In fact, the report finds that no major corporation caught engaging in accounting or securities fraud has been convicted since the Arthur Andersen conviction in June 2002."