SEC charges New Jersey with securities fraud

[Blackjack200]

Sorry if this is a repost, I looked but I can't believe someone hasn't posted this yet:

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said on Wednesday it charged New Jersey with securities fraud for failing to disclose to municipal bond investors that it was underfunding its pensions.

New Jersey, the first state ever hit with securities fraud charges by the SEC, agreed to settle the case without admitting or denying the findings, the SEC said. The state was not required to pay any civil fines or penalties, but it was ordered to cease and desist from future violations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1820166820100818

So, $26 billion worth of bond fraud = no admission of wrongdoing and no fines or penalties? Must be good to be a state.

 

[her209]

LOL Jersey

 

[MotF Bane]

Sorry if this is a repost, I looked but I can't believe someone hasn't posted this yet:



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1820166820100818

So, $26 billion worth of bond fraud = no admission of wrongdoing and no fines or penalties? Must be good to be a state.

Justice may be blind, but she has become very sensitive to the value of one's checkbook.

 

[PokerGuy]

No admitting guilt, no fines, no penalties, just "ok, now we've told you it's illegal, so don't do it again, or we'll have to once again do nothing about it".

 

[PricklyPete]

Horrible precedence to be set. The people responsible should be held to criminal charges.

 

[ayabe]

No admitting guilt, no fines, no penalties, just "ok, now we've told you it's illegal, so don't do it again, or we'll have to once again do nothing about it".

This is standard. GE got the same deal a couple weeks ago and had to pay a petty fine for doing business with Iran but didn't have to admit to doing anything wrong. Just like the Goldman deal where the penalty was pennies on the dollar compared to what they made on their shitty deals.

 

[PokerGuy]

What a wonderful system... the biggest law breakers get away without any problems, while the small fish get nailed.

 

[khon]

Business as usual. If you commit fraud worth a few thousand, you end up in jail. If you commit fraud worth billions, you walk away with a slap on the wrist.

 

[PeshakJang]

I'm gonna drink Heineken and commit securities fraud, all fuckin' night.

If somebody files charges...... fuckin' skanks....

 

[BoomerD]

Joisey...whoda thunkit?

Not fining government entities is fairly common. They get told why they're wrong...and told not to do it again...but that's about it.

 

[rudder]

Joisey...whoda thunkit?

Not fining government entities is fairly common. They get told why they're wrong...and told not to do it again...but that's about it.

It doesn't really make sense to fine a government entity since that state would have to use taxpayer money to pay the fine. At least there is now a public record of wrongdoing and the voters can make a stink.

Now jail time.... that would be a win/win for the taxpayer. Send the states CFO to the slammer.

 

[her209]

Now jail time.... that would be a win/win for the taxpayer. Send the states CFO to the slammer.

You mean the Comptroller?

 

[Thump553]

I wonder what Martha Stewart has to say about this resolution.

 

[Lemon law]

Blackjack200 points out, "The state was not required to pay any civil fines or penalties, but it was ordered to cease and desist from future violations."

What a miscarriage of justice, I was a kinda hoping the FEDS would would throw the whole damn State in jail. But wait, isn't living in New Jersey just like living in jail?
Its just a bigger cage.

 

[Slew Foot]

Glad to see that ever since Martha Stewart got sent to the slammer for insider trading that all bankers and finance people are flying straight.

 

[nonlnear]

Now that they got the ball rolling with Jersey they can move on to all the other states that have been underfunding their pensions. Or maybe not.

 

[brandonbull]

What a wonderful system... the biggest law breakers get away without any problems, while the small fish get nailed.

It's all about the low hanging fruit

 

[kranky]

Saying "Same thing happened in New Jersey with securities fraud." in a thread about that exact issue pretty much gives away the fact you're a bot.

Why am I talking to a bot?

 

[Craig234]

Ugh. States don't do anything, officials do, and they can be held criminally liable.

Protections should be in place for protecting officials from political witch hunts - like Governor Siegelman's imprisonment at the instigation of Karl Rove - but it's an option.

Some of the debt was sold while former Governor Jon Corzine ran the state. Corzine, a Democrat, one-time chief executive officer at Goldman Sachs Group...

What a surprise.

But as bad as that is...

Corzine spokesman Josh Zeitz said Corzine had worked to shore up the system that had been badly neglected for years.

"He put more state money into the public pension fund during his one term than all of his predecessors over 15 years did combined," said Zeitz.

Meanwhile, Christie skipped a scheduled $3.1 billion payment into the state's pension fund for the current fiscal year that began July 1.

Christie, seeking to close a $10.7 billion budget shortfall, said the state should not make further payments into a system that paid retirees too generously. He has promised to propose pension reforms in the fall.

So, the Goldman Sachs guy funds the pension with missrepresented bond sales, and his successor just decides not to fund them because he doesn't want to.

Because he thinks the teachers get too much.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

So, $26 billion worth of bond fraud = no admission of wrongdoing and no fines or penalties? Must be good to be a state.

You do realize that any fines or penalties levied against the entire state would have to be paid by the taxpayers, correct? How would that be fair?

Those responsible should be held criminally liable.

 

[hal2kilo]

Ugh. States don't do anything, officials do, and they can be held criminally liable.

Protections should be in place for protecting officials from political witch hunts - like Governor Siegelman's imprisonment at the instigation of Karl Rove - but it's an option.



What a surprise.

But as bad as that is...



So, the Goldman Sachs guy funds the pension with missrepresented bond sales, and his successor just decides not to fund them because he doesn't want to.

Because he thinks the teachers get too much.

This is one of the main methods the tax break promising state polititians use. Out of site out of mind. Next on the list is neglecting infrastruture.

We are the society the wants something for nothing.