This won't be much of a diary, but it is nice to see the DOJ successfully executing a national campaign against financial fraud. Hopefully this will be the first of many campaigns targeting financial fraudsters and hopefully this is a sign of good things to come in the DOJ's investigation of the BP Oil Spill.
AG Holder reveals hundreds of financial fraud cases
WASHINGTON (AP) — A nationwide law enforcement crackdown targeting financial fraud has led to cases against 343 criminal defendants involving $8.3 billion in estimated losses, Attorney General Eric Holder announced Monday.
"Operation Broken Trust" is the first national effort of its kind aimed at a broad array of investment fraud schemes and the 3 1/2-month campaign was organized by the Obama administration's Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force.
http://www.usatoday.com/...
An interesting announcement video by Holder can be viewed here:
http://www.necn.com/...
It seems that one of the fraudsters in Texas was recruiting investors at his church, stating that his investment talent was "a gift from God". It's a good thing that these people were caught now, before they could go on to become even greater crooks.
The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task force was set-up by Obama just one year ago, so this is a pretty significant achievement for such a short amount of time... I wonder what else they have going on.
More info on the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force:
What is the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force?
President Obama established the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force in November 2009 to hold accountable those who helped bring about the last financial crisis, and to prevent another crisis from happening.
The task force is improving efforts across the government and with state and local partners to investigate and prosecute significant financial crimes, ensure just and effective punishment for those who perpetrate financial crimes, recover proceeds for victims and address financial discrimination in the lending and financial markets.
With more than 20 federal agencies, 94 US Attorneys Offices and state and local partners, it’s the broadest coalition of law enforcement, investigatory and regulatory agencies ever assembled to combat fraud.
http://www.stopfraud.gov/...
I applaud this effective move by the DOJ - now I'd like to see them go after some of the bigger fish in the Manhattan Area...