Holder is letting banksters off scot-free

[eridani]

Nothing new--this crap has been going on for the past 30 years.

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/10/01/my-turn-bring-the-big-banks-to-justice.html

Now we’re witnessing another round of this shameful routine. President Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder Jr. have said they would hold Wall Street accountable for the crash, warning “unscrupulous executives,” in Holder’s words, that “we will investigate you, we will prosecute you, and we will incarcerate you.” But despite fraud on a scale possibly unmatched in history, the Justice Department has not charged a single executive or firm. The Securities and Exchange Commission, meanwhile, has extracted only fines from a handful of big banks. Three of the federal judges who oversaw these cases—none of which included an acknowledgment of guilt—protested from the bench, saying the fines are “not enough to deter anyone from doing anything,” the justice is “half baked at best,” and the banks are getting “a free ride.” (Holder has defended his financial-fraud task force, stressing “the totality” of its efforts, including cases against mortgage fraud and insider trading; SEC chairwoman Mary Schapiro has noted that the bulk of its investigations are “not necessarily” done.)

It’s often argued that proving criminal-fraud cases in finance is difficult. That’s true, but when the government gets serious, it finds a way to get the information it needs. Prosecutors could also go after bankers’ personal foibles, forcing lower-level personnel to chose between testimony or jail time. That’s how investigators have crippled organized crime. Unfortunately, no one has yet shown the same enthusiasm for policing the Street.

[leveymg]

1. It's like after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Mafiyya and KGB took over the state

The only ones who were prosecuted were the lone wolves and the outsiders, and even that happened rarely.

Another sign of imperial collapse in America.

[geckosfeet]

2. The laws around criminal financial fraud are vague, ill defined and poorly enforced.

That is no accident.

Disclaimer - I am not a legal scholar, lawyer or involved in finance. But clearly, there are many gray areas in financial regulation. Some would say the laws we have would work if enforced. Some would say that there is over-regulation.

My take is that a regulatory system that permits the creation of mortgage backed securities that pressure the mortgage industry to sell more and more questionable mortgages has failed. Further, when the regulatory system permits corporate finance to insure the value of these securities when they know full well that they are crap and will fail, that regulatory system has not only failed and is negligent but is complicit in financial fraud.

[westerebus]

3. Difficult?

I understand Gitmo is still open for business.

Put a few bankers on a club fed flight to one of the many unnamed holding facilities for some water sports and I bet you get some answers.

SCOTUS says the Executive has that power in times of war. Af/PAK war is on going. Case closed.

[Jackpine Radical]

4. Hey, they keep bitching about class warfare--

Let's show them a thing or two about class warfare.

[westerebus]

5. They voted for the shrub and darth.

Time of war blah blah blah... President's need powers in time of war..

Keepin the country safe for our freedoms...

Fightin' them so Americans can have jobs...raise their families..

Hey, they were good with it. Still are.

Seems fair to me to give them more of what they really want.

They just need to be alleged supporters of the terra-ists

Cause they hate our freedoms...

[Po_d Mainiac]

6. +100000 n/t

[formercia]

7. Where do you think Organized Crime went?

"It’s often argued that proving criminal-fraud cases in finance is difficult. That’s true, but when the government gets serious, it finds a way to get the information it needs. Prosecutors could also go after bankers’ personal foibles, forcing lower-level personnel to chose between testimony or jail time. That’s how investigators have crippled organized crime. Unfortunately, no one has yet shown the same enthusiasm for policing the Street."

The 'Street' is Organized Crime.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. Maybe Holder won't be able to ignore this new development:

Federal RICO suit filed against banks, mortgage companies, mortgage trusts.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=114x82607

[CanonRay]

9. As my old man used to say, "The fix is in" n/t

[pokercat999]

10. Exactly, Obama and his administration are a wholly owned

subsidiary of Wall St.

We are the chumps that have been defrauded, one more time.