Protecting Investors or Prosecuting Innocents? The Dangers of Vagueness in Financial Fraud Laws

Third installment in a five-part series on Silverglate’s book, Three Felonies a Day: How the Feds Target the Innocent . “As a result of a burgeoning number of fraud investigations and prosecutions, I have become convinced that a concerted interagency effort is needed. We want to bring this additional firepower to bear on behalf of investors who might otherwise lose their confidence in the integrity of these markets.” The Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force , an interagency effort to investigate and prosecute those responsible for the current economic crisis, was established via executive order on November 17. But the above announcement was made twenty years prior. On January 31, 1989, then-Attorney General Dick Thornburgh touted the creation of a coordinated task force to bring to heel those responsible for the Wall Street scandals du jour .

Originally posted here:
Protecting Investors or Prosecuting Innocents? The Dangers of Vagueness in Financial Fraud Laws