Things That Just Piss Me Off

This is typical of an administration that is friendly to big business and uncaring about the general public. Consumers are supposed to trust the government agencies in charge of prosecuting crime, whether the crime is perpetrated by individuals or corporations.

After Enron, the oversight and enforcement of corporate fraud should have tightened up. But instead, big business got george bush elected and the reverse has happened.

In Justice Shift, Corporate Deals Replace Trials
In Justice Shift, Corporate Deals Replace Trials
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: April 9, 2008

In 2005, federal authorities concluded that a Monsanto consultant had visited the home of an Indonesian official and, with the approval of a senior company executive, handed over an envelope stuffed with hundred-dollar bills. The money was meant as a bribe to win looser environmental regulations for Monsanto’s cotton crops, according to a court document. Monsanto was also caught concealing the bribe with fake invoices.

A few years earlier, in the age of Enron, these kinds of charges would probably have resulted in a criminal indictment. Instead, Monsanto was allowed to pay $1 million and avoid criminal prosecution by entering into a monitoring agreement with the Justice Department.

In a major shift of policy, the Justice Department, once known for taking down giant corporations, including the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, has put off prosecuting more than 50 companies suspected of wrongdoing over the last three years.

Instead, many companies, from boutique outfits to immense corporations like American Express, have avoided the cost and stigma of defending themselves against criminal charges with a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, which allows the government to collect fines and appoint an outside monitor to impose internal reforms without going through a trial. In many cases, the name of the monitor and the details of the agreement are kept secret.

Letting crimes committed by corporations go on with a slap on the wrist and a fine is just wrong. Anyone should be able to see that. These corporations can pay the million-dollar fine easily when they just made millions by committing fraud. This just insures that the government also profits from their crime.

That makes our government their partner in crime. The motto seems to be, “Go ahead, commit fraud, steal money, just make sure we get our cut.

Stumble it!