A thought experiment:

Imagine a burglar breaking into a house in the dark of night and rummaging for valuables like cash, jewelry, electronics, and collectibles.

Assuming the burglar isn’t caught, how much do you think a typical “score” might be worth — a few hundred, maybe a few thousand, dollars?

Now, let’s say a very ambitious burglar aspires to make off with $10 billion in stolen property.

They would have to be literally superhuman — burglarizing millions of houses and getting away with it night after night, year after year.

Like a reverse Santa Claus. With a menacing ski mask instead of a fluffy beard.

It would likely be considered the greatest non-violent crime spree in all of human history.

If and when this super-burglar were eventually apprehended, what punishment would be doled out?

Sam Bankman-Fried — the disgraced founder of cryptocurrency empire FTX — is on trial right now in federal court on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. In all, Bankman-Fried is alleged to have misappropriated as much as $10 billion from his customers over multiple years.

But his prosecution is the exception to the rule. Corporate criminals far too often escape prosecution or get away with a slap on the wrist — relatively meager fines and little or no time behind bars — even after committing egregious crimes.

I’m not just saying this — we have the data. A brand-new Public Citizen report shows the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted only 99 corporate offenders in 2022. That’s not even a third of the (already low) level from 20 years ago.

Click to add your name if you think corporate criminals should be subject to prosecutions and punishments that are at least as severe as those faced by people convicted of comparable “street crimes.”

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- Robert Weissman, President of Public Citizen

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