Pursuing Financial Criminals

Judicial movement against some of the institutions that created the financial crisis are intensifying, although so far there is little indication that individuals in the financial corporations, much less the Government, will be held responsible. Despite these limitations, this process is a bellweather of the health of our democracy and merits close attention. With luck, we will all eventually have a clearer indication of the degree to which the appearance of fraud reflects reality even if the degree of corporate-government collusion remains concealed by the fog of politics.

1. The SEC sued Goldman Sachs for fraudulent betting against its own customers in 2010. Goldman settled a few months later, paying a half billion dollar fine.
2. The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) sued Goldman Sachs for “misrepresentation” in August 2011. The NCUA is the Federal credit union regulator. This is its fourth suit flowing from financial schemes that contributed to the recession.
3. Goldman Sachs and two other firms agreed in August 2011 to cease foreclosure fraud and compensate victims.
4. A class action suit was filed against Goldman Sachs in August 2011.
5. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, which regulates Fannie Mae, is bringing suit against 17 banks and mortgage firms, including Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, and Deutsche Bank, and Countrywide Financial.

It is also unclear how many of the victims of the financial scheming will be compensated.