Eric Holder

If a recent report is true, the Justice Department will need a new name – and some of us will have to step up and admit we were wrong. more »

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Yesterday the Justice Department announced that once again it's not going to pursue evidence of Wall Street crimes which has been sent its way. It has already failed to act on information sent to it by sources whose investigators are apparently more dogged than its own, including several other government agencies and the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission. more »

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No financial executives have gone to jail, despite an overwhelming body of evidence indicating that a group of organized "banker gangs" conducted a widespread Wall Street crime wave that made them rich and while throwing millions into poverty. more »

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The President says he understands the frustration behind the Occupy Wall Street movement. That's nice. But the anger will keep growing as long as the government keeps handing out free passes instead of perp walks to bankers at serial corporate criminals like Citigroup.

The Administration is finally talking the talk, but without criminal investigations it's not walking the walk. Iit's still not too late. While the SEC's latest deal should outrage you, the Administration can makes things right with two decisive actions.

Get-Out-of-Jail Free Card

The SEC announced yesterday that Citigroup agreed to pay $285 million to settle charges that it misled (synonyms for that word include deceived; lied to; tricked and defrauded) investors in a mortgage securities deal, telling them it was a good investment when it knew otherwise and was secretly betting it would fail.

That's not just slimy. As the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission found in other instances, that kind of behavior is also illegal.

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If you're a banker who bought your estate with the millions you made from mortgage fraud, relax.  The Justice Department isn't looking for you.  But if you're an illegal immigrant who's working on that banker's estate, look out.  The Department of Justice is ignoring your boss and devoting most of its resources to catching you.

And the Justice Department's "mortgage fraud" unit doesn't prosecute bankers.  It protects them.

Joe Nocera of the New York Times  contrasts the legal treatment that was given to one high-flying borrower with that received by Angelo Mozilo, CEO of the fraudulent lender Countrywide.  But if stories like this one are bad, the numbers are even worse.  

If you also take a qualitative look at some of the Federal government's other well-publicized mortgage fraud efforts, like its "Stop Fraud" website, the picture becomes pretty stunning - if not downright infuriating..

Justice by the Numbers

The TRAC group [1] at Syracuse University gets information from the Justice Department under the Freedom of Information Act, then analyzes it and makes it available online as an interactive database.  Here are some interesting findings:

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Here's something the administration may want to take to heart: Trust is a lot like money. If you spend more than you earn, it could be gone when you need it the most. more »

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