This Wall Street ..chasm of plummeting stocks, and subsequent losses in figures none of us can really imagine, unless your break down: 700 billion dollars to approximately $2,300.00 for every person in the U.S.! is just the tip of the cold cash world of investors.
There are so many backroom players that a major agency would have to be commissioned and created. We can call it the Holier than thou Group. (HTTG) I mentioned in yesterday's blog that several CEO's were indicted a few months ago. Then silence. Let's take a look at just one of them: Let's begin with Refco CEO, Phillip Bennet. He headed one of the world's largest commodities Brokerages. Much of their business was in the futures and options as well.
Goldman Sach's as well as other firms were asked by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to buy or take responsibility for its futures trading business. Warren Buffet's loan of 5 billion to Goldman Sachs is not being done without a reason. He is not just investing because we are in a bear market, but because as a seasoned investor he knows that it will turn into a bull market, and he can ride out the wait.
Bennet who became CEO in 1998 was arrested in October 2007. At this level of investing all of the players know one another quite well.
On July 3, 2008, in New York Mr. Bennet was sentenced to 16-years in prison. He was convicted of duping investors to a tune of $2.4 Billion dollars in fraud that destroyed the company he was chosen to head, the biggest independent commodities firm in the world. Nine days ago he reported to prison.
The world of finance is as intricate as the maze in Dante's Inferno. Impossible to ever clearly document . Way too much skullduggery. Too deep and too wide. That is why this mass media attention on this mortgage meltdown of epic proportions is really meant to steer us away from other acts of malfeasance
Here are a few more behind the scenes players: Bernard Ebbers, WorldCom CEO. serving 25 years;
John Rigas, Adelphia (Cable Company) largest outside of Philadelphia: 12 years. He is now 83- years- old. Bayou Hedge fund executives, Samuel Israel and Daniel Marino ,20 years each..and of course we remember Michael Milken..the junk bond king..who just served 22 months.
Bennet's maximum sentence could have been 315 years. What do you think the punishment should be for people who play the game of finance, and the resulting loss impacts on employees who lose their jobs, health insurance, pensions, IRA's , 401K? ( Before this recently passed legislation, as of yesterday that claims the government will back your company owned IRA's and the bank held IRA's of course will be insured up to $100.000.00 dollars.)
How does the punishment fit the crime? or does it? what do you see as a solution? We are the ones that end up paying for their greed. Should the government bail us out?
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Thursday, September 25th 2008 at 4:38PM
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