3 ms·
You missed my point: One strategy that should be safe is telling the god's-honest truth. But even with the truth, you invite a whole lotta hassle by bringing
by jpdoctor 15y ago
You missed my point: One strategy that should be safe is telling the god's-honest truth. But even with the truth, you invite a whole lotta hassle by bringing a lawyer.
Conversely: Even if you're a dishonest crook, you get the feds off your back by omitting a lawyer.
This is not how it should be; It is how it is.
- hyperbovine 15y agoThis guy was the former chair of NASDAQ and had friends in high places. Your chances of getting the same red carpet treatment from the Feds are effectively zero. Hire a lawyer.
- VladRussian 15y agoYou point is : if you're a talented con artist who was able to con $50B out, then you would mislead/charm/fend off a SEC or any other investigator better than a lawyer. I'm completely agree with you here. For the rest of us - talk to your lawyer first.
- jellicle 15y agoThere are hundreds of thousands of people in prison right now who arrived for their interview with the authorities without a lawyer. I'm not sure your theory actually pans out. (Madoff wasn't caught when the SEC first investigated because they thought he was front-running orders, not a giant Ponzi scheme. They were looking for the wrong thing.)
- scott_s 15y agoI have to disagree with what you said about the SEC. According to Markopolos' book, the SEC wouldn't have caught him even if he was front-running. It's not that they were looking for the wrong thing. They just didn't look.
- jerf 15y agoActually, use of the word "truth" is itself leading. What's illegal is not lying to the government, because the government is not magically capable of telling that you are lying. What's illegal is giving the government information that the government interprets such that the government determines it conflicts with what the government determines be the official-truth.