Financial fraud prosecution dropped

While New York trader Bernard Madoff's multi-billion Ponzi scheme made headlines, federal prosecutors charged only 91 people with corporate fraud in the year ending Sept. 30, down from 313 in 2003, the year the department began keeping track, USA Today reported Wednesday.

With the Bush administration pushing the Justice Department to tackle terrorism cases, prosecutors let their guard down regarding financial crime, said Sen Ted Kaufman, D-Del.

"There's no doubt that if we got started two years ago, we would have gotten a lot more of these guys. Because we didn't, there are people who are going to get away with it," he said.

"We never should have left ourselves naked when it comes to financial fraud," the senator said.

Former director of enforcement for the Securities and Exchange Commission said slack enforcement did not contribute to the financial collapse of the past two years.

"It's a myth that there are five or 10 people who are responsible for all this," McLucas said.

Copyright 2009 by United Press International.