Marcy Kaptur, Congresswoman from Ohio's 9th District, sent a letter to Attorney General Holder which reads in part:Dear Attorney General Holder:
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) announced on Friday, April 16, 2010, that it had filed a securities fraud action against the Wall Street company Goldman Sachs & Co (GS& Co.) and one of its employees for making materially misleading statements and omissions in connection with a synthetic collateralized debt obligation ("CDO") that GS & Co. structured and marketed to investors.
...financial manipulations such as this contributed to the near collapse of the U.S. financial system and cost American taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars. On the face of the SEC filing, criminal fraud on a historic scale seems to have occurred in this instance. As an ever growing mountain of evidence reveals, this case is neither unique nor isolated.
If both global and domestic confidence in the integrity of the U.S. financial system is to be regained, there must be confidence that criminal acts will be vigorously pursued and perpetrators punished.
While the SEC lacks the authority to act beyond civil actions, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has the power to file criminal actions against those who commit financial fraud. We ask assurance from you that the U.S. Department of Justice is closely looking at this case and similar cases to further investigate and prosecute the criminals involved in this, and other financially fraudulent acts.
Furthermore, if the DOJ is not currently looking into this particular case, we respectfully ask you to ensure that the U.S. Department of Justice immediately open a case on this matter and investigate it with the full authority and power that your agency holds. The American people both demand and deserve justice in the matter of Wall Street banks whom the American taxpayers bailed out, only to see unemployment and housing foreclosures rise.
...We in Congress stand ready to support you in protecting the American taxpayers from financial crimes such as the fraud that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Goldman Sachs with committing. We ask that you take up this case, and others, to pursue justice for the American people, to put criminals in jail, and seek to restore the integrity of our nation's financial system.
Sincerely,
Marcy Kaptur
MEMBER OF CONGRESS
On a related note for anyone interested, the Progressive Change Campaign Committee has a petition, "Not Too Big For Jail," calling for the DOJ to "launch a criminal investigation of Goldman Sachs & other Wall Street companies who may have acted illegally while devastating millions of lives."
The SEC's suit against Goldman Sachs makes people wonder if other banks structured piles of debt they secretly knew would fail and then pitched those to investors. Quinn Emanuel has filed suit claiming Merrill Lynch did something similar with an investment fund nicknamed Norma.
There is definately ONE thing I would pay higher taxes for.....more federal prisons if we need them. But, let's eliminate the tennis courts and give them "basic cable" only.
I wonder how Andy Fastow's doing???
A really successful salesman I used to work with said he upped his chances of making a sale by telling the client exactly what the competition was going to say about his product.
So here's what I predict will be said as rationale NOT to proceed with criminal charges:
1 - The markets will react unfavorably, as they don't like the uncertainty (of knowing whether or not their managers are/have been engaged in criminal activity)
2 - When #1 occurs, all holders of retirement accounts will suffer (as if all we holders of 401Ks and IRAs and savings accounts haven't been beat up enough)
3 - They, the citizens, will get angry but their anger will prevent them from throwing your elected ass out of office.
4 - So let's give'em a walk. I'm mean, it's not like they were selling crack.
I pray this happens, and the sooner the better! We can't let these people who produce nothing but schemes to take other people's money get away with it.
go for it!
it's long past time that people entrusted with responsibility of most of the money in this country face the same penalties that everyone else does