Is Fuld the next loser of the corporate crime lottery?

I’ve been saying that the Enronesque criminal prosecutions of meltdown figures is probably looming, beginning with Lehman’s Fuld, though this would be a mistake. This NY Mag article brings Fuld’s prosecution closer. Here’s Carney’s summary:

The article makes clear that while Lehman Brothers chief executive Dick Fuld was using his powers of intimidation and influence with the Treasury Department to quiet “rumor mongers,” he was running a firm in a financial condition that was even worse than critics suspected. Even while he and his deputies sought to assure investors and counterparties that all was well aboard the good ship Lehman, the firm’s own executives were discovering that the balance sheet told a very different tale.

The criminal laws will hit those who lied (maybe Fuld) and not those who merely screwed up (e.g., Bob Rubin). It’s the sort of distinction we’re used to with the corporate crime lottery. I’m not comfortable with putting anybody in jail for this type of mistake.

Originally posted by Prof. Larry E. Ribstein on Ideoblog