Tycoons on the lam - now that’s progress!

February 18, 7:45 PMDC Corporate Ethics ExaminerJim Cunningham

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Stanford on the...  OK, bad pun, but you get the picture.

Banking tycoon, Alan Stanford, is accused in a scamming investors to the tune of 8 billion worth of false promises of high returns on certificates of deposit in a massive fraud case that’s similar to the familiar Bernie Madoff case. If that weren’t enough, he’s now accused of laundering drug money.

Federal authorities tell ABC News that the FBI and others have been investigating whether Stanford was involved in laundering drug money for Mexico's notorious Gulf Cartel."

 Now it appears he’s on the run. Stanford tried to hire a private jet for the purposes of fleeing the country. Strange as that sounded when the report came out, with this new news out of Mexico, it’s no wonder.

Federal authorities raided all three of his headquarters but could not find 58-year-old Allen Stanford."

This tycoons-as-criminals theme is a hopeful one. As I’ve mentioned before, these crooked business people have the capacity to hurt far more people than the small-time criminals that we’re often are led to believe are the scourge of America. After eight years of an Administration that was so unabashedly pro-business to the exclusion of all other things, it’s no surprise that the amount of fraud cases is quickly reaching a crescendo, with the FBI currently investigating 530 Corporate Fraud cases.

The economic crisis has sparked an increase in criminal fraud, including an “exponential rise” in mortgage scams that is straining the FBI’s resources."

Senate Democrats are urging more spending to expand the ranks of the FBI's financial fraud investigators. Now there’s an idea for progressive’s to get behind. I can think of nothing healthier for the country than to stamp out corporate corruption.

I’m not afraid to admit that I take great pleasure in seeing corporate criminals on the run. I hope to see more of – a lot more of it – over the next eight years.