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Microcap & Penny Stocks : TGL WHAAAAAAAT! Alerts, thoughts, discussion. -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: ChrisJP who wrote (111570)	12/19/2002 10:47:07 PM
From: Jim Bishop	Respond to of 150070

Thanks Chris, have a great holiday.

To: ChrisJP who wrote (111570)	12/26/2002 3:03:53 PM
From: Taki	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 150070

Government Wants Tougher Punishment for Corporate Criminals Washington, Dec. 26 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department wants officers and directors of publicly traded companies who ``abuse their position of trust'' to spend more time in jail. In letters sent to the U.S. Sentencing Commission, the Justice Department proposed revising federal sentencing guidelines to impose stiffer penalties for directors and officers whose greed jeopardizes the health of their publicly traded companies. ``Effective enforcement and deterrence require that penalties be substantial and certain, with prison time being the rule, not the exception, for those who violate the law in the course of doing business,'' wrote Justice Department lawyer Eric Jaso. After the fraud scandals at Enron Corp. and other public companies, Congress directed the sentencing commission to ensure that corporate criminals receive heightened penalties. The Justice Department, in letters dated Oct. 1 and Dec. 18, expressed concern that the commission was not going far enough and would send a message to the public that ``fraud crimes are not taken seriously.'' Criminals whose fraud activities cause a company more than $1 million in loss should go to prison for about five years, the Justice Department said, while those responsible for more than $100,000 in loss should receive about 18 months in prison. ``We believe the commission's action must ensure that white- collar criminals are held fully accountable and must result in tough, consistent, incarceratory penalties for those who would threaten the integrity of our financial markets and our economy,'' Jaso wrote. `Economic Dislocation' The government said it wants to ``ensure that all but relatively minor business crimes will result in prison for the wrongdoer.'' The commission, expected to vote on sentencing guidelines next month, is considering automatic sentence enhancements for abuses by directors and officers of publicly traded corporations. Generally, automatic enhancements result in more prison time. The guidelines set by the commission are intended to lead to uniform sentencing by federal judges across the U.S. The Justice Department proposed heightened punishment for directors and officers who abuse their position to further criminal activity. Also targeted are officials of publicly traded companies whose acts result in ``substantial economic dislocation,'' such as employee layoffs or ``serious'' financial loss to pension funds, retirement accounts or individual stockholders. The Justice Department recommended that the commission stiffen penalties for obstruction of justice. The Justice Department's Enron task force successfully prosecuted Arthur Andersen LLP in June for obstructing justice by destroying Enron Corp. documents that might have been of interest to federal investigators. `Lower Loss' Frauds White-collar criminals responsible for more than $50,000 in loss should also face prison, the Justice Department said. ``We believe that these penalty increases should apply not only to the billion-dollar cases that have dominated the news headlines in recent months, but also to the so-called `lower loss' criminal fraud cases that make up the bulk of federal prosecutions around the country,'' Jaso wrote to the commission. The Justice Department expressed concern over judges using so- called downward departures to give some fraud or theft criminals lower penalties because of charitable work or ``extraordinary'' acceptance of responsibility. Such a sentence ``feeds the public perception that businesspeople who steal are treated far more leniently than `street criminals,''' the Justice Department said. --Anna Marie Stolley in Washington, (202) 654-1249 or astolley@bloomberg.net. Editor: Asseo. Story illustration: For the Justice Department's Web site, see: usdoj.gov. For a series of screens on news about corporate crime, see: {CNP 02521710102 <GO>}.