The U.S. Congress barked at the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) and the SEC (Securities Exchange Commission) in a hearing yesterday, regarding the snail pace of their investigations and gross lack of prosecutions, for the financial crimes plaguing America.

I for one am not amused at the rate in which the government is addressing the fraud in Wall Street and Corporate America as a whole. Business people such as myself and also investors, who have been damaged by the white collar crime permeating the business sector, defrauding us out of very valuable assets and money, at the hands of thieves, have a right to be angry, as it is our livelihood and finances going up in smoke, due to government failures and treachery from agencies such as the FBI. 

At the heart of the problem in the FBI and SEC's corrupt belief that certain criminals are too connected to be arrested and it is massively hampering any financial recovery America could make domestically and in the world. As such, the whole nation is paying for the crimes of politically and socially connected thieves.

Had Bernard Madoff's family not turned him in to spare themselves, due to investors circling him, suspecting their money was gone, he'd still be running the ponzi scheme today, as it was publicly proven after the scandal hit at the end of last year, the FBI and SEC knew of his misconduct a decade ago and let it continue, due to Madoff's connections and him being too rich to be brought down. Never mind he wasn't really rich, as he was stealing thousands of people's assets and money. This same treachery repeated itself in the R. Allen Stanford ponzi scheme. Stanford is connected to George W. Bush, as was Enron.  

The FBI and SEC can testify in Congress two million times regarding what they plan to do, but until the public sees any real action, it will be filed under "hypocrisy" and "talk is cheap." The nation's name in the financial world is severely damaged, yet the two agencies responsible for addressing the matter are ineffective, incompetent, corrupt and simply do not care. They, in tandem with former President George W. Bush, are why the crisis happened and due to the standing policies he left behind, will happen again.

Lawmakers Pursue Financial Crisis Prosecutions

December 9, 2009, 7:39 pm - Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned three of Wall Street’s top cops on Wednesday, including Robert Khuzami, the enforcement director of the Securities and Exchange Commission, in an effort to examine why they had not done more to prosecute individuals and securities firms that may have played a part in creating the financial crisis.

Several senators said they were frustrated by the lack of prosecutions of high-level officials, bankers and corporate board members, who they believe acted improperly during the crisis.

Mr. Khuzami, along with Lanny Breuer, the assistant attorney general of the criminal division at the Justice Department, and Kevin Perkins, the F.B.I.’s assistant director in charge of its criminal investigative division, told lawmakers that they had stepped up their enforcement efforts amid the fallout from the crisis and pleaded for more time in establishing cases against individuals and corporations that may have acted improperly during the crisis.

“Why aren’t we seeing more board room prosecutions?” Senator Ted Kaufman, the Democrat from Delaware, who headed the hearing, asked the three men.

“Senator these are complicated cases — don’t for a moment think that they are not being pursued and investigated,” Mr. Breuer responded. “The folks that perpetrated these crimes took a long time in hatching and developing — and bringing the cases will take a long time, but they will be brought.” ...

Mr. Perkins from the F.B.I. said a new interagency financial fraud enforcement task force created last month would help in speeding up the process and could lead to more prosecutions down the road.

“We have a good bit of liaison already between the groups,” Mr. Perkins said, but the task force “will force us to come together, share that information and employ that sense of urgency” when it comes to issues of financial fraud...

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com

SEC's Khuzami: Enforcement Unit Undergoing 'Self-Assessment'

* DECEMBER 9, 2009, 2:00 P.M. ET - WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The Securities and Exchange Commission Enforcement Division, embarrassed by its failure to spot the multibillion dollar Ponzi scheme perpetrated by Bernard L. Madoff, is undergoing a "top-to-bottom" self-assessment, the division's director is expected to testify Wednesday.

Robert S. Khuzami, in prepared remarks before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, outlined a number of steps the agency is taking to reorganize itself...

The Justice Department currently has mortgage fraud charges against roughly 500 defendants and the FBI is working on 2,700 additional cases, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer is to testify.

Meanwhile, the FBI has more than 2,100 pending Corporate and Securities Fraud investigations across the country, Assistant Director for the FBI's Criminal Investigation Division Kevin L. Perkins plans to say.

Since the fall of 2007, "the FBI has effectively combated significant frauds on various fronts," Perkins plans to argue...

http://online.wsj.com