Quote of note:

Often it took years for federal bill collectors to get around to their job. This delay gave crooks the time to hide money and appear penniless when finally cornered.

PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE
Only suckers pay
Monday, March 7, 2005

CRIME DOESN'T pay, but, in some case, it comes mighty close.

As evidence, consider the results of a federal audit: White-collar crooks pay only 7 cents of each $1 owed in fines.

A review by the Government Accountability Office looked at five cases involving such wood-paneled crimes as faking sales numbers, falsely pumping up stock values and pocketing business loans for personal use.

The various executives, who were left unnamed in the report, served time. But they only paid back $40 million in $568 million in fines. Worse still, they appeared to have the money at the start of legal troubles but pleaded poverty when it came time to pay up.

The fines aren't intended only for the U.S. Treasury. In most cases, the money was intended for defrauded banks, stockholders and small investors who were swindled. Victims of white-collar crime remained victims.