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-- "power & influence" because of friends in high places;
-- "charisma" to attract broad appeal; and
-- "strong cover" for being a respected financial community member.
They flourish best free from regulatory oversight during periods of economic prosperity and bull markets, or at least the illusion that these conditions exist. Former convicted felon Sam Antar explained:
"White-collar criminals are economic predators. We consider you, humanity, as a weakness to be exploited in the execution of our crimes. In order to commit (them), we have to increase your comfort level (by) build(ing) walls of false integrity around us....We have no respect for the laws. We consider your codes of ethics, your laws, weaknesses to be exploited in the execution of our crimes."
"You can't be prosecuted for being stupid. So all white-collar criminals always try to play stupid. They don't want to show intent. It's easier to say that this was a result of a mistake or an error of judgment, than to say that I intended to, to victimize or defraud somebody. It's relatively easy (and) the criminal element today is figuring out a way to exploit it" because of so much easy money around for the taking.
The Crime at the Heart of the Crime
Embracing fraud is simple when so many people in high places commit it, get away with it, and the few caught keep most of their gains and pay a small price for them. Further, "The line between legal and illegal can be a thin one or no line at all. It can also be complicated, even hard for government to investigate and prosecute."
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