Robbery is Okay if You're Big Money

Crime is having a field day in the occupied White House in many ways. Business is being given the benefit of a large blind side when prosecution is neglected of crimes against the public.

The author gives a bow to the war criminals' claim that the GWOT is distracting them, but otherwise gives a pretty hard look at failure to control business crimes in "Corporate Fraud".

Federal investigations into corporate fraud are plummeting, according to The American Lawyer, which conducted its own investigation into big cases filed from 2002 through 2006.

The legal publication's study showed that criminal cases peaked in 2003 in the rush of Enron-related actions, then started falling sharply in 2004. American Lawyer reports there were 357 indictments between 2002 and 2005, as the U.S. Department of Justice pursued corporate crooks.

The government stopped releasing its own data after 2005, as prosecutions slowed down dramatically, the study said. In 2006, just 14 cases were classified as significant; in 2007 only 12 cases have been filed, according to American Lawyer's report.

"The DOJ maintains that the decline is simply a mark of its success, in combination with Sarbanes-Oxley Act reforms, but others question whether prosecutors have been diverted by new priorities," Aric Press, editor in chief of The American Lawyer, said in a written statement. "Our reporting raises a critical question: has the problem of corporate fraud really been 'solved,' or has the Justice Department simply stopped trying as hard to prosecute it?"

Other recent studies have shown a decline in white collar-related prosecutions as the Bush administration redeployed resources at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and other agencies to the fight against terrorism.

Corporate fraud in all forms remains a big concern, as four out of five global companies surveyed this summer by risk consultant Kroll and the Economist Intelligence Unit, a global research firm, said they had experienced some fraud in the past three years.

It's no secret that the Justice Department has been turned into a second RNC, and of course 'the base' is in control. The Rule of Law has been suspended. Caveat emptor, y'all.