EXCERPT:
This past June, for example, the Fraud Section resolved allegations of criminal wrongdoing against Barclays Bank over the bank’s role in the manipulation of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or LIBOR. Barclays, which entered into a non-prosecution agreement, or NPA, with the government, paid a significant price for its egregious conduct. In the wake of our announcement, the top management of the bank was replaced. But, as we also recognized at the time, Barclays’s cooperation with our investigation was extraordinary, which is why an NPA was appropriate in that case.
DPAs and NPAs are appropriate in certain circumstances and, therefore, they can be useful alternatives to criminal indictments. But they cannot be a substitute for criminal charges. Just last week, for example, we announced criminal trade secret theft charges against Kolon Industries, a South Korean corporation, and five Kolon executives and employees. As the Kolon case shows, we do not hesitate to charge corporations criminally in appropriate circumstances, in addition to holding individuals accountable.
As I have said repeatedly, the strongest deterrent against corporate wrongdoing is the prospect of prison time. That is why I have put such a high priority on making sure that individuals are prosecuted when the evidence warrants prosecution. To give you just two Criminal Division examples: Lee Bentley Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor Bean & Whitaker, which was one of the largest private mortgage lending companies in the country, is serving a 30-year prison sentence for having masterminded a nearly $3 billion bank and securities fraud, and several of his co-conspirators are also serving substantial prison sentences. R. Allen Stanford, who misappropriated $7 billion from Stanford International Bank to finance his personal businesses, is serving a 110-year sentence.
[…]
[ipaper docId=110884675 access_key=key-p50tjd1yb68nw7ftzcg height=600 width=600 /]
© 2010-19 FORECLOSURE FRAUD | by DinSFLA. All rights reserved.
Hmmm, aren’t there other bad guys out there? Other Taylor Bean & Whitakers’ perhaps? Well, which is it, are some corporations above the law? Most importantly, why does society have to rely on the fear of medieval torture to make sure some people don’t go on institutionalized thieving rampages?
Many have lost it financially, but who of the losers actually wants to see bit players, some of whom appear to have been trying to make a living, thrown in dungeons as a form of Justice? In some cases, the foot soldiers were given tools by management, yet they are unaccountable. How about helping victims first, foremost and above all?