Politically connected Wyly brothers (Texas billionaires) charged in massive fraud

[UpInArms]

Source: Washington Post

Samuel Wyly and Charles Wyly -- billionaire brothers in Texas who have spent millions funding political campaigns -- committed violations of federal securities laws and fraud by using offshore accounts to secretly trade the shares of public companies whose boards they sat on, reaping more than $550 million in profit, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission complaint filed Thursday.

The politically-active Wylys, who have been generous donors to Republican causes over the years, have faced questions in recent years -- including a Senate probe -- about whether they ran an extensive network of tax shelters.

"The cloak of secrecy has been lifted from the complex web of foreign structures used by the Wylys to evade the securities laws," said SEC deputy director of enforcement Lorin L. Reisner. "They used these structures to conceal hundreds of millions of dollars of gains in violation of the disclosure requirements for corporate insiders."

The SEC alleges that the brothers created an elaborate network of accounts and companies in the Isle of Man and the Cayman Islands that they used to trade more than $750 million in stock in four public companies they served as board members. The SEC charges that they also committed an insider trading violation concerning one of the companies, earning almost $32 million.

The Wyly's attorney and stockbroker were also charged.

Read more: http://voices.washingtonpost.com/market-cop/2010/07/politically-connected_wyly_bro.html?hpid=topnews

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bush_Pioneer">Bush Pioneer

Charles Wyly and Sam Wyly, Texas brothers who collectively represented Bush's 9th greatest career contributor.

[Mopar151]

1. Raw, naked greed

And these are the sort of people George W. Dipstick wanted to trust with our retirement money?

[SpiralHawk]

2. Yup - a core Republicon Family Value

Greed....ptoooey on Republicon Family Pharisee Values and all the harm they have caused to America.

[EmeraldCityGrl]

3. K&R..Oh how sweet it is.

I can just here them whining about political prosecution. :evilgrin:

[autorank]

4. Not a good sign for W k*r

Bring it on, Vincent Bugliosi

http://thejournal.epluribusmedia.net/index.php/book-reviews/38-all-reviews/151-a-review-of-bugliosis-the-prosecution-of-george-w-bush-for-murder

[Historic NY]

5. Oh good, take the profit from the crime & apply it to the deficit.

[Canuckistanian]

6. Looks like someone is awake at the SEC

And I say BRAVO! :applause:

[wordpix]

7. SEC is finally doing its job after 8 yrs. of G.DimWit Bush - maybe these Whylys have some political

secrets to share :evilgrin:

[ooglymoogly]

8. Here comes another slap on the wrist and a tiny fine, not

even close to the theft and cheat. And its civil doncha know, even though the acts were criminal. These criminals must be shaking in their boots.

Only looking forward where pug criminals are concerned, doncha know.

[DLine]

9. Why no jail time?

Half a billion in unclaimed profit. What gives....

[ooglymoogly]

10. They are apparently being prosecuted in civil court.

They are not criminally charged!@!

Wherein lies the ever present bullshit.

[anigbrowl]

24. the SEC can't doesn't have legal authority to press criminal charges

SEC cases are always civil, DOJ files criminal charges.

[ooglymoogly]

27. Serious crimes are turned into criminal charges and vigorously procecuted

if SEC finds criminality and turns it over to DOJ as in People vs Martha Stewart....Your post begs the question, why was this not? It is a crime a hundred times more grave than that of Martha, who was savagely and vigorously prosecuted and frogmarched into jail by the DOJ and its jackboots the FB-eye. I did not mention the SEC in my post for that very reason.

The purpose of a guard dog agency is to find corruption.

whether it be Dem, Pug or anybody else should not have the slightest bearing; And where criminal intent and blatant criminality are found then DOJ must immediately takes over criminal investigation and prosecution before evidence begins to mysteriously disappear and change under the most peculiar circumstances, even under guard and in evidence vaults.

It is DOJ that I am ranting about, not the SEC though it deserves its share of blame for soft peddling this.

If, in fact, the SEC extracts its pound of flesh in the way of 500 million plus heavy and commensurate fines, and DOJ is preparing its prosecution and frog march as in Martha Stewart, all is well and kudos are in order;

But past experience tells me a different story; That this scenario is highly unlikely under this DOJ; Or DOJ would already be knee deep and barking loudly as in Martha Stewart, which could only help SEC collect its due and scream a warning, whose purpose it is to deter further crimes and certainly not, to settle political scores.

[anigbrowl]

28. it takes longer to bring criminal charges because the standard of proof is higher

You have to prove facts beyond a reasonable doubt rather than just by a preponderance of the evidence. For institutional-size financial cases this is a slow process involving literally millions of documents. All I can say is 'stay tuned.'

A case like Martha Stewart was trivially simple by comparison.

[ooglymoogly]

11. The last few lines of the article...

The fraud lasted 13 years and the Wylys were able to make gains -- hidden from the public -- of more than a half-billion dollars, according to the SEC.

The SEC's charges, which are civil in nature, seek various financial fines and sanctions against the Wylys and their associates.

[Occulus]

16. The SEC isn't bothering to recover the ill-gotten gains?

Am I reading that correctly?

[Beartracks]

12. This is why money MUST = free speech!

Clearly, these two are great Americans! They are rich, they have managed to make money in spite of an environment of overwhelming government interference and high taxes, and they have exhibited the BEST of American values: hard work, persistence, and creativity. THESE are the values that represent the best of America, and thus great men like the Wylys who earn their vast fortunes by the very sweat of their brows, by leveraging these wholly American virtues... THESE great Americans are clearly representative of our American values, our American system, our American way of life. THIS is what success looks like, ladies and gentlemen, and we should naturally reward such citizens with a greater say in how things ought to be run around here, because they clearly know what they are doing, they know how the system works, the know what it is to rise up from a humble background and make the American dream happen! Money equals success, my friends, and successful people should be rewarded and should be listened to.

















</limbaugh_impersonation>

:sarcasm:

-----------------------------------------

[saigon68]

19. Sweet

[Robbien]

13. Who did the Wyly brothers piss off?

This type of criminal activity is almost standard operating procedure for our rich elite.

I'm wondering, with so many to choose from, why is the SEC going after these two?

[Beartracks]

26. Jesus.

And, I recall, it was his Father who also told everyone that they shalt not steal.

------------------------------

[young_at_heart]

14. Sounds like Alan Stanford----another Texan

Jury selection in the criminal trial of Texas businessman R. Allen Stanford, accused of running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme out of Antigua, has been set for January 2011 in Houston.

[defendandprotect]

15. K&R --

[w4rma]

17. Lets see if these people spend more time in jail than Martha Stewart did. (nt)

[saigon68]

20. They won't

[ooglymoogly]

21. Martha is a rich Dem contributing to Democrats and therefore was charged in criminal

court and sentenced to harsh jail time;

And that fraudulent attitude permeates our, now farcical, justice and judicial systems, right down to a starving shoplifter, forced by pug made and enforced circumstances, of putting a life sustaining packet of baloney in his pocket to feed his family;

Or the heinous crime of smoking dope to escape the lunatic asylum the pugs have created for young folks and us elders as well, where the third arrest for one of these or a gazillion other hoked up high crimes can be and has been, life in a corporate prison.

A prison who's stock is owned by those making and influencing the crazy quilt laws, not designed for honest law and order, but instead, designed to stock them.

Its called "trickle down justice' by the pugs, who, along with "Democrat" Holder, consider rich and powerful pugs immune to justice and the law; No matter how heinous the crimes or how vast, the criminal treason.

Criminality and cheating, is how pugs keep themselves in office and in control at any cost, no matter who the democrats think they have elected and where in any civilized country, where folks tend to call a spade a spade, this blatant evil, would be called fascism.

Consider the fate of Don Siegalman and his political imprisonment, and the firing of dem attorneys whose fates have never been brought to justice and wrongs righted.

Consider what happened to Spitzer a Democrat, juxtaposed against what happened to Vitters a republican.

It should be obvious to anyone paying attention; These are rich pugs contributing mightily to pug dominance and therefore are charged in the country club atmosphere of civil court, usually presided over by a pug judge;

Even if the crimes are 100 times more egregious, where only fines may be adjudicated; Where only pleasantries are the norm and collegiality the standard. And further, only prosecuted in rare instances where an honest rogue attorney takes the action his job requires; Who's career is probably then systematically destroyed as in the case of Spitzer;

And let that be a warning to any other Democrat with aspirations of honesty, or doing the job the law and the constitution requires.

This kangaroo Justice, in that same mold as the last, is looking forward doncha know; Even if the crimes were committed yesterday; Or even still in progress for that matter, as far as pugs are concerned.

Holder by his criminal non action in prosecuting pug criminals, Blithely pirouetting in overwhelming evidence against them, clearly knowing no harsh reality will come to them; Not rectifying the calumnies of his predecessor, has made them immune to law; To continue their plunder and theft of government.

But, betcha Martha, Spitzer and Don Seigalman et al, were taught a stern lesson, not to fuck with pugs; With that incredibly obvious and purely political attempt to destroy them in kangaroo criminal courts owned lock stock and barrel by these same pugs.

[catgirl]

18. Rick Perry benefitted greatly from them

I hope this becomes a campaign issue!

[activa8tr]

22. Can't we get these guys arrested on criminal conspiracy charges?

Tax evasion, wire fraud, grand larceny?

I see SO MUCH POTENTIAL JAIL TIME, but no?

Where are the criminal lawyers to explain to me why these crooks should ever see the light of day outside a prison again?

[NC_Nurse]

23. Cue Nelson for a

Ha-haw!

[Anakin Skywalker]

25. Yet Another Free-Market God Exposed for a Fraud!

Ha ha ha ha ha! Sweet! :)