Saturday, July 29, 2006

The Fates of Fraudsters, 2006   [George Conway]

"It may well be that all but the most trivial frauds in the publicly traded companies may trigger sentences amounting to life imprisonment" under current law, wrote Judge Ralph K. Winter yesterday in justly affirming Bernie Ebbers's conviction for committing securities fraud by hiding costs to "create a false picture of profitability."   The 64-year old Mr. Ebbers should begin his 25-year prison term presently.

In contrast, as the New York Times reports today, State Department bureaucrats who "used an accounting shell game to hide ballooning construction on its programs . . . and knowingly withheld information on schedule delays from Congress," well, they just get whacked with a little report.  Ouch.  After all, what's a billion dollars or two to the American taxpayer?

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The differing fates of Mr. Ebbers and the government bureaucrats should hardly surprise, as even the Securities and Exchange Commission can't keep its books straight.  See also here, here, here, here, here, and here.

07/29 01:26 PM