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To: Jeffrey S. Mitchell who wrote (4301)	3/1/2003 11:01:58 AM
From: dantecristo	Respond to of 12465

"FBI rolls out hotline to report white-collar crimes By Marilyn Geewax Cox News Service WASHINGTON - Do you think your employer is cooking the books? The FBI, hoping to head off more Enron-like scandals, is encouraging Americans to report possible white-collar crimes on a toll-free telephone number. While some investor advocates are applauding the new Corporate Fraud Hotline, others question the wisdom of using the FBI for a job traditionally handled by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Still others worry about the FBI's creation of another database containing potentially erroneous and damaging information about individuals who may not even know they are being accused of a crime. ``There is a pervasive discomfort with the idea of the government creating another means to spy on and inform on others,'' said Albert Krieger, chairman of the American Bar Association's Criminal Justice Section. ``Having another database that potentially contains misinformation invades my sense of privacy.'' The hotline is part of the agency's Corporate Fraud Initiative, developed in response to a series of financial scandals that began with the collapse of Enron in late 2001. FBI analysts enter information from the calls into a database for review and possible dissemination to field offices. The FBI said it hopes the public's calls will generate four or five fraud investigations each month. Keith Slotter, chief of the FBI's Financial Crimes Section, said the hotline is not expanding FBI powers but simply making it easier for people to report possible crimes. ``The FBI receives numerous criminal tips and complaints in its 56 field offices each and every day,'' Slotter said. ``The purpose of this hotline is merely to channel those complaints which specifically relate to corporate fraud to a single location for immediate investigative action.'' J. Boyd Page, an Atlanta attorney who represents defrauded investors, agrees the hotline could make it easier for ``whistle-blowers'' to come forward. ``Given the number of fraud abuses we have seen over the last two or three years . . . this is a step in the right direction,'' Page said. ``We've seen a lot of instances where people have seen misconduct and brought it to the attention of management, but their warnings have not been heeded.'' Being able to talk directly to the FBI will give employees ``a positive alternative'' to confronting the boss, he said. But Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor and SEC enforcement lawyer, said he believes the FBI hotline might become more of a distraction than a crime-stopper. ``The FBI already is spread thin,'' said Frenkel, who heads the securities enforcement practice in the Washington office of Smith Gambrell & Russell LLP in Atlanta. ``This could add enormously to their workload'' as employees call in frivolous complaints against unpopular bosses, he said. ``I would think most citizens are more interested in having the FBI resources fighting terrorism'' than probing complaints about employers, Frenkel said. He said such calls are better steered to the SEC's ``consumer affairs specialists who handle this kind of thing.'' SEC spokesman John Hiney said he did not see any conflicts between the two agencies. ``We've worked together with the FBI for a long time,'' he said. The American Bar Association's Krieger, a Miami lawyer, said the country does not need an FBI collection point for corporate crime tips. ``It's a mistake to further stimulate the giving of information by people who may have private axes to grind,'' Krieger said. ``You have a lot of Dick Tracy-type people who see simple activities as evil'' and may be too eager to provide false information to the government. Since opening its probe into the bankruptcy of Enron in December 2001, the FBI says it has initiated more than 50 major corporate fraud investigations, including probes at WorldCom, Kmart and America Online. The FBI urges anyone who suspects corporate fraud to call (888) 622-0117. The hotline is staffed Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m." Posted on Sat, Mar. 01, 2003 bayarea.com