Apr
21
Did we say $700B? JK!!
Don’t know Neil M. Barofsky? What, you don’t remember when the 38-y-o Violet was plucked from the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to oversee the TARP distribution? Oh hai! He’s here to tell you the “bailout” you initially thought was $700 billion is more like $3 trillion.
The report also warned that the Treasury’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program has evolved into a $3 trillion effort of “unprecedented scope, scale and complexity” and comes with too little oversight and too little information about what companies are doing with the taxpayer money they are getting.There’s evidence enough already for 20 criminal investigations, Barofsky said in a report (PDF) released today.
The report said little about who is under investigation and how the fraudulent schemes work, but investigators are already on alert for a long list of potential scams. Such schemes could include obtaining bailout money under false pretenses, bilking the government with phony mortgage modifications, and cheating on taxes with fraudulent filings.Confused? Afraid? So are the banks! lawyer says.
“You don’t need an entirely corrupt institution to pull one of these schemes off,” Barofsky said. “You only need a few corrupt managers whose compensation may be tied to the performance of these assets in order to effectively pull off a collusion or a kickback scheme.”
Charles Clark, a lawyer with the firm Kirkland & Ellis, said banks that got TARP money worry that they could be prosecuted for conduct they thought was legal at the time. “Companies are fearful that the regulatory structure could be built on the backs of criminal defendants,” said Clark, who helped direct the Securities and Exchange Commission’s investigation of Enron eight years ago.Bonus! Neil vs. Neel.
In response to the report, Neel Kashkari, head of the bailout program, defended the government rescue plan.
“Our actions must be in the long-term interest of taxpayers, considering both the potential risks to taxpayers of action and also the potential risks to taxpayers of inaction,” Kashkari wrote. “We believe our programs strike the right balance.”
