Video: Comparing Fannie/Freddie to Enron/Worldcom/Tyco
10/02/2008
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2096030/posts
•Bernard Ebbers, Worldcom: 25 years in prison
•Ken Lay, Enron: Convicted on 10 counts, died before serving sentence
•Jeff Skilling, Enron: 24 years in prison
•Andrew Fastow, Enron: 10 years in prison
•Dennis Koslowski, Tyco: 8 years in prison
•Mark Schwartz, Tyco: 8 years in prison
So how about the officers of Fannie Mae, who conducted similar kinds of fraud in their financial statements in order to pad bonuses and keep regulators from discovering their precarious position until it was too late? Franklin Raines never faced criminal charges, and instead settled a civil suit with a $2 million payoff — which came from Fannie Mae’s insurance company. Jim Johnson didn’t even have to do that much.
And where are they now? The Washington Post reported twice that Raines was advising the Barack Obama campaign, although they denied it. Jim Johnson still advises the Obama campaign and had briefly led the search for a running mate. Supposedly the FBI has begun a criminal probe into the actions of Fannie Mae management over the years, but we’ll see if that proceeds.
FBI can get a Raines but much of what they did will be covered by the fact they were following policy set by congress. We know those people are invincible. They only make mistakes after all.
If you or i had done what some of these people did we’d be facing life sentences.