There is nothing that gets me more riled than when I read commentators describing fraud and various corporate shenanigans as "victimless crimes".
There are real victims. Fraud and corporate crime have a huge impact on society, something I have talked about here and here.
That's what drew my attention to a recent speech given by Russell Mokhiber, editor of the excellent Washington DC-based Corporate Crime Reporter.
In his speech, Twenty Things You Should Know About Corporate Crime, republished here via AlterNet, Mokhiber makes the excellent point that corporate crime inflicts far more damage to on society than all street crime combined. Worse still, the crooks are getting away with it.
He says the corporate criminal lobby has infiltrated Washington so that we end up getting laws that aids and abets their activities. One example, he says, is the auto industry which has worked its will on Congress to stop it bringing in laws that would impose criminal sanctions on knowing and wilful violations of federal auto safety laws.
Also, corporate crimes are under-prosecuted and corporate crime prosecutors are under-funded. And now, instead of having the book thrown at them, corporations are being given sweet-heart deals in the form of deferred prosecution deals and non-prosecution agreements. "You be a good boy for two years, and we'll drop everything."
As he says, it's time to ask the age-old question: whose side are you on?
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