"Robert Miller, a former lawyer for the SEC (and also a former money manager) deserves a prize for his performance in court the other day.
He just escaped a potential 20-year prison sentence by telling the judge that he used to be a "fearful, self-loathing suicidal alcoholic," says the Wall Street Journal. He was just too drunk to realize that he was participating in a fraud.
It's like he told his lawyer: 'No matter how drunk I was, I wouldn't have" [done it had I known it was a fraud].
Now Miller won't have to spend anytime in jail. He will just have to live under "supervised release" for 2 years.
This is amazing because Miller already plead guilty to conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire fraud and securities fraud in November."
Part of the reason for this shocking judicial failure, is the way the industry, through lobbying and political contributions, managed to change the laws and decriminalize their scams. It's hard to remember that 1500 bankers went to jail after the S&L crisis. Almost none are going to jail today.
That's why we need prosecutions of criminal enterprises under the RICO laws used against the mafia..
In other countries there are more creative ideas writes financial analyst Janet Tavakoli on Huffington Post:
"Broadcaster Max Keiser interviewed Luc Saucier, a Parisian lawyer to the financial community and Fulbright Scholar, on how to create a fast remedy to amoral behavior in the global financial markets.
"Saucier explains that labeling a financial institution "obscene" is an effective social deterrent. U.S. citizens have the right to own property and to make money. We also enjoy freedom of speech, up to a point. The Supreme Court stated that when "art" becomes obsceneand the court worked hard to define what is meant by "obscene"it is no longer considered art and does not enjoy the protection of freedom of speech.
The most highly compensated players in finance are hedge fund managers earning $1 billion to $4 billion per year. Saucier says that when you see someone making moneybillions of dollars a year in bonuses by exploiting the subprime crisisthen one can take the view that part of the remuneration is obscene. The same can be said for many bank CEOs, who may earn somewhat less economic compensation, but enjoy countless valuable perks.
"Mr. Saucier puts it this way:à ? ¨Ã ? ¨"They are committing acts of obscenity"They are morally bankrupting society"It's obscene like kiddie porn is obscene"On the financial front that's what [corrupt financiers are] guilty of. "
Too many Americans don't see it this way, says another financial blogger, Martin Andelman of Mandelman Matters,
"I think everyone has a friend or family member who thinks the crisis was caused by irresponsible sub-prime borrowers, who are now lowing their homes and should be. They're wrong, and you know they're wrong, but it's a tough argument to win. More than a few of my readers have contacted me over the last year saying that they wish I could come over and set their special someone straight, and frankly I wish I could too, because no one" and I do mean no one" has any chance of winning that argument if I'm involved, and not because I'm such a brilliant debater, but because they have their facts wrong" they are misinformed. I am not, and neither is Danny Schechter."
He then goes on to call for "Plunder Parties" to show my film Plunder The Crime of Our Time because our media is not doing enough to cover the criminal basis of the crisis
Boing Boing reports that "Italy's media is going on strike today, and practically no news will be reported. This is in protest of Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's plan to ram through anti-wiretapping legislation that includes a gag order on reportage concerning government investigation (especially investigation of corruption)."
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