07/24/03
On
7/22, President Bush threw a one-year birthday party for
his Corporate Fraud Task Force, outlining
its success
in combating corporate fraud and punishing wrongdoers. Deputy
Attorney General Larry Thompson, Secretary of Labor Elaine
Chao, SEC Chairman William Donaldson, Commodities Futures
Trading Commissioner James Newsome, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission Chairman Pat Wood, Chief Postal Inspector Lee
Heath, IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, and FBI Director Mueller
celebrated the day by evaluating their joint efforts over
the past year and setting future goals. As Director Mueller
has said, "we have a clear strategy for stepping up
efforts in our white collar crime program to conduct criminal
investigations into corporate fraud and to be proactive where
we can."
In sum: Thanks to aggressive, but fair investigations and
prosecutions that have stopped wrongdoers...and thanks to
corporate leaders who have stepped up to the plate to set
ethical standards for the business community...significant
progress has been made in cleaning up the marketplace and
restoring investor confidence.
The FBI's role in corporate fraud? It has
investigated over a hundred cases with its partners in
the Labor Department,
IRS, SEC, Postal Inspection Service, and the Defense Criminal
Investigative Service. It sends "flying squads" of
corporate fraud specialists to wherever their expertise is
needed. And it stands ready to answer your call on the Corporate
Fraud Hotline: just call 1-888-622-0117.
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