Fraud is the New Norm! So Where is the Outrage?

Well it looks as if I spoke too soon. In last week’s post, I was excited about the National Archives release of the first of many FCIC documents which had been sealed for five years, including my behind-closed-doors testimony (available here). I commented on the coincidence of this five year lockup period paralleling the statute of limitations.

And I was excited that the media had discovered and immediately jumped on the FCIC having made a referral to the DOJ for possible violations of law by Robert Rubin, quoting the March 13, Fortune Magazine article by Stephen Gandel about the referrals and Rubin’s and Citi’s involvement.

I thought this was huge, and I was particularly excited because I noted that the newly released documents that the FCIC also made a second Citigroup referral for possible violations of law, with this second referral based solely on my testimony and evidence provided to the Commission. And there was no doubt in my mind that the media would be all over this and finally justice would prevail.

Well, I was wrong. Even though I’ve combed through magazines and newspapers, little if anything has been posted and written in the days since the initial article on the Rubin Citi referral. I found three blog posts: Justice League Task Force and a blog in the Daily Kos, and another one; as well as a Wall Street Journal article which mentions the newly released documents and the former Chairman of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Phil Angelides’ disappointment on how the Justice Department handled the files.

Considering the magnitude of this story and two criminal referrals I found nothing from the Huffington Post, nothing from the New York Times, nothing from the Washington Post, nothing from the Financial Times!!! Needless to say I’m distraught! So if you see something, do let me know.

I would think the evidence of such massive fraud being committed against the American people and the DOJ ignoring two Citi referrals for possible violations of law would be news! And that the evidence being locked up for five years, explosive. Apparently I was wrong. It was a non-event.

[tweetthis]Evidence of such massive fraud should be news! #DOJ #Citi[/tweetthis]

So this week I will be presenting at the 11^th Annual Fraud Summit, sponsored by the Institute of Internal Auditors, the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, and Information Systems Audit and Control Association, held at the University of Texas at Dallas.

I’m going to talk about fraud and how as internal auditors there is a clear responsibility on our part to question what we see if not all is clear and black and white. To question if we have a doubt, to question if we suspect something is not adding up. And to go to leadership and bring our doubts to light.

I’ll be talking about fraud and what we have to really examine so there are fewer instances of Robert Rubin and other executives profiting from what should have been questioned and caught and stopped. I’ll be talking about what fraud really is and what is legal- and that sometimes what is legal is not necessarily ethical. And why it seems fraud is becoming more pervasive. After all if many of our so called respected leaders and institutions are getting off scot free then we are as professionals and as a country establishing new norms.

It looks as if by our silence we are exonerating major companies and financial institutions and the people who run them from being called to account from profiting at the expense of their stockholders and the American public.

If that’s the case, well then we are granting them the liberty to defraud us once again.

[tweetthis]Do we really want them defrauding us once again? #doj #tbtf [/tweetthis]