The Cellar - Pornography vs Corporate Fraud

Study: White-collar criminals dodging fines

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White-collar criminals routinely avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in court-ordered restitution by schemes such as transferring assets to relatives, a Government Accountability Office study said Thursday.

The GAO studied five unidentified federal cases in which executives and business owners found guilty of fraud were ordered to pay a total of $568 million to investors and shareholders. Only about $40 million, or 7% of what was owed, was ever collected, the study found.

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The Justice Department (news - web sites) has "financial litigation units" that are responsible for collecting debt from criminals. In a letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Dorgan accused the Justice Department of not aggressively trying to improve collections. The department did not comment Thursday.

So where is the Justice Department when all this financial skullduggery is afoot?

Gonzales outlines Justice priorities

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Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Monday he would move aggressively to prosecute obscenity cases, and he laid out a broader agenda much like that of his predecessor, John Ashcroft.

In his first lengthy address since becoming attorney general in early February, Gonzales said people who distribute obscene materials do not enjoy constitutional guarantees of free speech.

So, if any of these corporate criminals decide to hide their assets by buying large stacks of porn, Gonzales will be right there to catch them.

This is why business and social conservatives both love the current administration. While the Justice Department and Congress engage in a witch-hunt on social issues, they weaken enforcement of white-collar crime, environment, etc.

We're lucky there wasn't a large gay pride rally in Texas 2 years ago or Enron would never have been caught.