I tend to agree that both practically and legally, when you’re dealing with a fraud as big as this one, that successfully prosecuting the Big Man At The Top is

I tend to agree that both practically and legally, when you’re dealing with a fraud as big as this one, that successfully prosecuting the Big Man At The Top is the best strategy. People might scoff at mid-level fraud “doers” getting a slap on the wrist deal for their testimony, but the alternative where you go full scorched earth and fail to get a conviction would be terrible for the defrauded and the system beyond them. Capitalists (i.e. the owners of capital, the investor class, in this case) love a system where you don’t really have to quadruple check that a financial document is valid. Who can blame them? I certainly wouldn’t want to live in a world where something like FDIC doesn’t exist or where fraudsters can easily rip people off with low chances of jail time if/when the operation goes belly up.