4 ms·
I wonder how this is not a felony charge?
by notimetorelax 5y ago
I wonder how this is not a felony charge?
- ghastmaster 5y agoIt is a civil violation not a criminal violation.
- ccleve 5y agoFraud is criminal. They should have filed criminal charges.
- ghastmaster 5y agoMy original comment was misinformed. I did not realize the full scope of civil law. According to 815 ILCS 505 there are only three defined instances that warrant a felony charge and this is only if there is a previous conviction(misdemeanor). I'll leave it to you to show me where in the U.S.C. there is an opportunity to charge them with a felony.
- ccleve 5y ago18 USC 1001, plus others. Mail fraud would be one vehicle. Also conspiracy.
- tptacek 5y agoDoes the FTC accuse them of lying to federal authorities? That's what 18 USC 1001 is about. (It's Ken White's archetypical example of a bullshit statute, for what it's worth).
- ccleve 5y agoMy error. I should have said 18 USC 1001 and the following entries all under Chapter 47. There's quite a few examples there. There are also a bunch under Chapter 63.
- ccleve 5y agoExactly. Their revenues are approximately half a billion dollars. The 10 million-dollar fine will do nothing. A few days in jail for the senior people would have a much bigger effect.
- noasaservice 5y agoIt's about rich people and C levels. Those people are nearly immune from criminal wrongdoings.
- rootusrootus 5y agoAs long as they're screwing over regular folks. Mess with other rich people and all bets are off. E.g. Elizabeth Holmes.
- dragonwriter 5y agoCivil enforcement action by federal agencies does not preclude criminal prosecution, which often takes longer when both occur for similar conduct. But, especially in cases where civil enforcement is on behalf of and recovers money for harmed individuals, it's often higher priority as well as being faster because their is a lower barrier to initiation.