Sam Waksal, the ex-CEO of ImClone Systems who admitted to insider trading allegations, was sentenced to seven years in prison Tuesday.
Judge William Pauley also ordered Waksal to pay $3 million in fines and $1.26 million in restitution. He is the first CEO to be sentenced in the wake of numerous high-profile corporate scandals.
Today, we have this:
Three former Dynegy Inc. executives were charged in a federal indictment unsealed Thursday with conspiracy and fraud for their roles in accounting transactions that regulators say improperly boosted the energy company’s cash flow and lowered its taxes.
In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil lawsuit agsinst the three people.
“These defendants are accused of withholding the truth about Dynegy’s true fiscal condition from the SEC, shareholders and the public,” U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby said.
Named in the indictment were Jamie Olis, 37, Dynegy’s former senior director of tax planning; Gene Shannon Foster, 44, former vice president of tax; and Helen Christine Sharkey, 31, a former member of Dynegy’s risk control and deal structure group.
We need a lot more of this, and the only thing that is going to keep these people straight is the fear of long stays in the Big House if they get caught.
Of course, if I were hyper-partisan like the increasingly strident Yglesias, Marshall, Barlow, and the rest of the liberal bloggers, I would have to point out that a couple more indictments and stiff prison sentences, and we may finally end the culture of corporate fraud and greed that set in during the Clinton years.
Neal
John-
There is an opening italics tag right before “Sam Waksal, the ex-CEO…” and no closing tag, hence all the entries below are in italics.
Andrew Lazarus
“we may finally end the culture of corporate fraud and greed that set in during the Clinton years.”
Frankly, I thought it set in during the Cain and Abel years.
Example: S&L frauds date back to the Reagan years. But I forget, everything is the fault of the Clenis.
John Cole
Andrew- Please work to recognize the sarcasm. My point was that if you read the sites I listed, they have increasingly become paranoid and “Everything is Bush’s Fault” parodies of the same idiots who tried to blame everything on Clinton.
Andrew Lazarus
sorry it’s been a long day