According to a new report. They pay a relatively small fine and in return the corporate criminals avoid jail time and its business as usual.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...
The federal government is on track to file just 1,365 prosecutions for financial institution fraud in fiscal year 2011, according to a new report from a watchdog group. That would be the lowest number of such prosecutions in at least two decades.
Every year since 1999, the number of such prosecutions has gotten smaller and smaller, the report states. This means, for example, that there were more prosecutions in any given year during the presidency of George W. Bush than in any year during the presidency of Barack Obama.
The declining number of fraud prosecutions in 2011 may reflect the increasingly widespread use of deferred prosecution agreements, a less-aggressive legal strategy that allows companies to voluntarily report their own misconduct and avoid harsh consequences in court. Since 2008, the Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission have both adopted deferred prosecution tactics and put less emphasis on punitive measures for financial crimes, according to The New York Times.
Thanks for the recs, going to bed. Will check out comments tomorrow.