The bank penalties for fraud and money laundering might be instructive here. The headline penalty amounts were inflated with bogus dollars that the banks never

The bank penalties for fraud and money laundering might be instructive here. The headline penalty amounts were inflated with bogus dollars that the banks never actually paid. A great example was Bank of America's purported $17 billion settlement. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bank-america-pay-1665-billion-historic-justice-department-settlement-financial-fraud-leading https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/bank-america-pay-1665-billion... This was really $7 billion in actual cash, plus double-counting $3 billion of pre-existing penalties that BofA hadn't paid yet, and then juiced further with totally bogus $7 billion in "homeowner relief". That "homeowner relief" consisted of adding up "principal reductions" on bad debt that the bank had already suffered because they made bad loans, plus "new loans to credit worthy borrowers". Like when there's a class action lawsuit for criminal corporate behavior and the "settlement" is a coupon for 20% off more purchases from the company. The details aren't out on the Facebook settlement, but if the bank penalties are any guide, the cash actually paid could be a fraction of the $5 billion headline number.