Friday, April 2, 2010

Overseas Fraud Is Prosecuted: Here Its Is Ok

The “F Word” (for fraud) is back in polite conversation on Wall Street. Fraud and financial crime are slowly becoming part of the debate over what must be done to restore confidence in what has so plainly been a confidence game.

Drilling for oil has knocked financial reform out of the headlines, but among commentators, a concern with crime and the absence of punishment is being raised again.

First there was Robert Reich, the former Clinton Labor Secretary, a small man with a large and insistent voice. He’s practically spitting because he’s so pissed off with the inaction, asking where has the SEC been—not the Bush SEC which blew the Madoff probe, but the Obama appointees:

“It’s now clear Lehman Brothers’ balance sheet was bogus before the bank collapsed in 2008, catapulting the Street and the world into the worse financial crisis since 1929. The Lehman bankruptcy examiner’s recent report details what just about everyone on the Street has known since the firm imploded – that Lehman defrauded its investors. Even Hank Paulson, in his recent memoir, referred to Lehman’s balance sheet as bogus.
(snippet)

Overseas these problems are also common, but in many countries there seems to be far more vigilance and prosecution. One recent example:
(AFP) SHANGHAI — An executive at China Mobile, the world’s biggest mobile operator, has been detained after going missing with hundreds of millions of yuan (tens of millions dollars), a report said Thursday.
Li Xiangdong, based in the southwestern Sichuan province and in charge of China Mobile’s centralized wireless music platform, went missing ‘many days ago’, the 21st Century Business Herald said, citing unnamed sources.
It was unclear how Li siphoned the money away from the company, but industry insiders said a possible source was kickbacks from service providers and content providers doing business with China Mobile, the report said.”
Stories like this are becoming increasingly common. Overseas, the crimes seem to be prosecuted. What about here?

5 comments:

  1. Because if they prosecuted it here, the whole damn government would be indicted. Then no one would be left to pilfer the national coffers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The current problems in the US do not stem from having a socialist black man in the White House.
    But, from having a yellow man in the shithouse.
    The yellow man like all recent Presidents is very brave at ‘defending America” by attacking with high tech weapons and unmanned drones defenceless third world peoples to keep them in their assigned place in the Empire and in continuing the policies of militarism that have bankrupted America .
    For decades America has not fought a war against an opponent capable of solid resistance, only wars against a few tribesmen in Afghanistan ,or an Iraq but only after it had been disarmed by weapons inspectors and against a population and army weakened by a decade of economic sanctions.
    For that reason for all the brave talk an noise and the backing of a rabid cheer squad in America and Israel the US will not attack Iran .Because Iran is capable of fighting back. Although their crazy paranoid ally might if it thinks it can rely on america and american aid to save its shit.
    The yellow man, a “socialist‘, is not so brave when it comes to confronting the corrupt elite on Wall St.
    Meanwhile at the same time as Obama drops more bombs on Pakistan , Iraq, Yemen , Uncle Bens helicopter drops load after load of printed paper bombs on wall St. with the yellow mans blessing.
    It was fun while it lasted !Housing values went up and credit to pay for over-consumption flowed like honey .Now after years of ignoring the costs of militarism its wars and the rot and Ponzi fraud that is Wall St, the liberal and conservative supporters of the system are finally starting to be aware of the cost as the credit supply dries up and the unpaid bills of militarism have come home to roost
    And the yellow man daily tacks on more interest for the bondholders and now ‘healthcare’ taxes on behalf of the insurance companies to add the now unpayable bills.
    Did Americans really think it would all be cost free and that a smooth talking cowardly yellow man could save the system by increasing the cost of militarism, by printing more money and creating more debt just because he said ‘Yes we can”?

    ReplyDelete
  3. 1:52,

    I can't understand a word you say. Your words are typed, but I can't read what they're saying...

    ReplyDelete
  4. 321 Go to one of the public schools for about 12 years and then you might understand about a third of what 152 said. Let me sum it up for you 321. Attack the weak and defenseless to give the appearance of being great. Ruin the economy. And nothing in life is free. And oh yeah- our country is being ran by a coward. Your right 321.

    ReplyDelete
  5. leaders do not needs guards, cowards do!

    ReplyDelete

Everyone is encouraged to participate with civilized comments.