Fraud, the FBI and the Economy.
You must wonder if the lack of investigative resources at the FBI has exacerbated the economic crises the country is in. Several newspapers reported that the FBI had requested more funding for agents to deal with economic crimes, but little additional funding was approved by the administration. Apparently, even with the reduced number of investigators there are still important ongoing criminal investigations. The New York Times reports that out of 13,000 agents, only 15 are investigating mortgage fraud full time. If we accept the premise that the mortgage meltdown was a significant factor in the current economic problems, the FBI's allocation of resources appears to be short sighted.
The number of frauds and victims seem to be increasing, and this can only make things worse. I happened upon a report about two weeks ago that the number of people charged with fraud had made a dramatic jump. Unfortunately I don't have the source of the story, but today's reporting supports the unfortunate fact that we are all suffering from the frauds. The Tom Petter fraud makes the headlines because it is so large and effects so many people. Many crimes do not make the news, but are just as troubling because of the impact on the businesses that drive our economy.
I wonder why people think they are going to get away with defrauding people. Small frauds maybe, but large frauds are eventually going to get discovered. For another interesting take on the problem, see the following thoughts.
Without an effective criminal justice system to catch and convict white collar criminals, our economy becomes corrupted. As we look around the world at the worst economies we usually see rampant corruption. The new president will need to address many things, and law enforcement needs to be a high priority.
