Fraud Friday — SIGTARP Sends its 100th Banking/Borrower Criminal to Prison

June 5, 2015

By Bob Coleman
Editor, Fraud Friday

“100 defendants have gone to jail for crime related to the government’s response to the financial crisis known as TARP—the defendants’ crimes were serious and so were SIGTARP’s efforts to stop them,” says Christy Romero, Special Inspector General for TARP (SIGTARP).

“100 times, SIGTARP held defendants committing TARP-related crime accountable. 100 times, SIGTARP protected taxpayers and other victims. 100 times, justice was served. 100 times, SIGTARP left TARP and the financial system safer than we found it. The story does not end here. As other convicted defendants we investigated await sentencing, we expect the number of prison sentences to rise. There is much more we can do and will do. And while investigations take time, trials take time, and sentencings take time, holding criminals accountable and deterring future crime is worth it and necessary for long-lasting recovery from the financial crisis.”

As of May 26, 2015, SIGTARP has produced the following results:

  • Criminal convictions of 182 individuals, 101 already sentenced to prison while others await sentencing

  • Criminal charges filed against 256 individuals, including 167 senior officers

  • Civil charges filed against 66 individuals, including 52 corporate or senior officers, and 67 companies

  • Orders temporarily or permanently banning 93 individuals from working in the banking or financial industry, working as a contractor with the federal government, or working as a licensed attorney

Prison sentences in SIGTARP cases average 63 months, nearly double the 37-month average sentence for white-collar crime, reflecting the complexity, damage, reach, and sophistication of the criminal schemes uncovered by SIGTARP together with law enforcement partners. Seventeen defendants investigated by SIGTARP were sentenced by courts to prison terms of 10 years or more.