Death Penalty Should be Applied to Corporations that Defraud Government Report Shows:

www.corporatecrimereporter.com

WASHINGTON - December 30 - The death penalty should be applied to corporations convicted of defrauding the federal government, according to a report released today by the Corporate Crime Reporter. The report ranks the top 100 False Claims Act settlements by amount of the settlement. It also lists the whistleblower's share of the settlement - if known. (The report can be found, in its entirety, at www.corporatecrimereporter.com)

The report calls on federal officials to seriously consider applying the corporate death penalty to companies convicted of defrauding the federal government. "The federal government has the authority to prohibit corporations convicted of serious crimes from doing business with the federal government," said Russell Mokhiber, editor of the Corporate Crime Reporter, a weekly newsletter based in Washington, D.C. "This debarment or exclusion authority is considered the equivalent of the death penalty, because for major health care corporations and defense corporations which rely on federal contracts, denying them federal contracts would effectively put them out of business."

The top 100 settlements ranged from a $731 million settlement in December 2000 with the Tennessee-based health care giant HCA to a $13 million settlement with each of three companies tied for the 100th spot - Kerr-McGee, FMC and First Health Services.

The qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act allow private individuals to sue companies that defraud the federal government and recover damages and penalties on the government's behalf. Whistleblowers are entitled to 15 percent to 25 percent of the funds the government recovers as a result of the lawsuit when the government joins the case. In each of the top 100 cases profiled in the report, whistleblowers raked in more than $1 million.

Fifty-six of the top 100 false claims settlements were with health care corporations, while 23 were with defense contractors. Eight of the top ten settlements involved criminal plea agreements by the companies. The top 100 recoveries brought in a total of $8.2 billion - more than 65 percent of the $12 billion recovered in total under the False Claims Act since it was amended in 1986. The top two settlements were with HCA, the Tennessee based health care corporation - for $731 million in December 2000 and for $631 million in June 2003. Rounding out the top five settlements were TAP Pharmaceuticals for $559 million in October 2001, Abbott Labs for $400 million in July 2003, and Fresenius Medical Care for $385 million in January 2000.

Seems to work for ENRON and Arthur Andersen. Oh wait, they self-destructed as a result of public scandal. The feds bravely knifed a couple of corpses.

In contrast, free speech often zaps a$$-holes (like that Tycho $hit) and crooked billion-dollar companies more efficaciously than a legion of legendarily slothful federal bureaucrats.

There is a narrow version of the corporate death penalty in place pursued originally by T Roosevelt and used occasionally since. Worked on Standard Oil and AT&T. Slovenly applied against Microsoft. Might be useful to strengthen it except for the inescapable baggage of another layer of federal bureaucratic interference.

Botnst

I don't think going after these crooks requires any new federal bureaucracies or laws. Read the following introductory paragraphs in this report: http://www.corporatecrimereporter.com/fraudrep.pdf

This is people-powered justice involving regular citizens in the process. Strikes me as a pretty libertarian approach...

On a side note:
My wife is a fish biologist with the State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife here in WA. What gets her aggravated isn't a lack of laws to protect wild salmonids, it's the lack of enforcement of the laws already on the books. A lack of political will to properly fund and enforce existing state and federal mandates. Both major parties regularly engage in this little budgetary shell game--it's a sham operation.

Darn Z, this has gotta stop. I agree with you.

Botnst

So are you suggesting that if a company is found guilty of defrauding the gov, that the entire company should be banned from further gov work. And this should be done knowingly and intentionally to put the company out of business in entirety. Where is the intelligence, let alone justice, of punishing the entire company for the bad-deeds of a few folks? Do you think the courts would support it?

Wouldn’t it more prudent to put the corporate chair, board, or whomever is actually found guilty to have conspired to defraud the gov in prison, and, in addition, to fine the company, rather than to put thousands to 10s of thousands of folks out of work because of the deeds of a few?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

What I'm suggesting is that as long as corporations are able to operate under the absurd constitutional protections of the 14th amendment, providing them with corporate 'personhood', they should be held 'personally' accountable for their crimes in a fashion similar to actual persons.

The actual persons who made the corporate decisions should be prosectuted AND the corporation should be barred from future government contracts--period.

This presents an excellent reason to introduce democratic principles into the workplace (e.g. cooperative principles). If regular line workers had access and a voice in the corporate decision-making process, it's conceivable that they would insist on operating in their self/community interest, which would more than likely be in an appropriate and lawful manner.

I think it's time to get tough on crime and stop coddling corporate criminals. Corporations already wield far too much power and influence over our republic, and it's time to hold them accountable to the letter of the law. That concept strikes me as an eminently reasonable civic expectation.

Just say no to corporate extremism.

That fact that the government would even consider doing business with a corporation that had previously perpetrated a fraud is nothing short of absurd. The "death penalty" should be automatic, and the fact that is isn't or hasn't been is just another indicator that the government asylum is being run by the inmates...

Ron
http://germanstar.net

Absolutely. If you owned a small business that was intentionally bilked by a supplier of services or goods, would you continue to do business with them? I rather doubt it, and I wouldn't either...

Ron
http://germanstar.net

For how long?

I suppose that if the offending company approached me a year or two later, was under new management, and sang a good song, I might give them another shot, but it would take some convincing. There are huge risks associated with building your business to a size needed to have a shot at government contracts. If you want to accentuate those risks by cheating (and many do to be sure), that's your choice.

Ron
http://germanstar.net

I'm curious. In the recent example where the certain folks in the Pentagon apparently conspired with cartain folks at Boeing on the refueling tanker lease/purchase, project, you would ban Boeing from further gov contracts? Would you also ban the Pentagon and the entirety of the military from making gov contracts? Or just imprison everyone in the Pentagon and fire all branches of the military?

Where does the collateral “punishment” end?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

The Pentagon participants should be arrested and tried for treason (they did conspire against their own government, did they not?). Treatment of Boeing would depend on the specifics. Was a crime committed by the corporation, or by a few folks in mid-management? If the crime can be tied to top management, perhaps Boeing should be banned.

Ron
http://germanstar.net

That raises other interesting questions...

Capitalism naturally tends toward more consolidation and less competition, which results in monopoly domination of a market segment. In the defense industry, Boeing has emerged as THE preeminent behemoth (and a repeat offender), which raises security concerns as well.

The folks at the Pentagon should be rooted out and summarily fired and prosecuted--same goes for any officials at Boeing. This has been a long time coming.

If it can be proven that Boeing used its monopoly leverage to defraud the government, then anti-trust violations may be added to the mix. One 'death penalty' remedy might require the Gov to break up their trust and separate the commercial and defense portions of the company, or further separate the different sub-components of the defense sections. A re-organization and management overhaul might suffice.

As a native Washingtonian I would have to recuse myself from that jury cuz I've learned over time to despise their very presence in my community. They're a menace to society.

I just knew you’d like the question. Happy Holidays, Z!

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

I certainly agree that companies need to adhere to the law.....as do governments. The City of Atlanta is being fined on a continual basis for dumping raw sewage into the Chattahoochee River.

The Mayor can't seem to get the City Council to approve a tax hike necessary for the $3 Billion tab. Without approval, no repairs and the water gets dirtier. Who suffers?

Politicians who squander our precious tax dollars should face a similar punishment.....betray the public trust? To common these days.

"Too many laws on the books" or "need enforcement of the existing laws"? Heck yeah.....just don't hold your breath.