Punishment of the Rich
"A former broker at Bear Sterns was sentenced on Tuesday to three years of probation and a year of home confinement and fined $300,000 for his part in an insider trading case." - NY Times by Reuters more...
Apparently, a crew of him along with 12 others were charged. They grabbed themselves over $17.5 million through their actions. Assuming they divided it somewhat evenly, they man is sitting on around $300k-$500k after the fine.
I don't know about you but being forced to a vacation with a $300,000 in my pocket doesn't sound too bad. There's a bit of stigma attached to finding a new job but it doesn't say that he's lost his license to be a broker (though I would assume he did). I'm sure he'll find work again after the year.
Is this an example of the legal system coddling the rich?
The man's name is Ken Okada which lends itself to him being of Japanese descent. Asians tend to have a more favorable position than Africans in the light of Western culture so, is it a race issue? Would a black man get the same treatment?
Personally, I don't think race can really be ignored but the significant factor is his financial situation. I'm considerably suprised that he is simply put on probation and not sentenced to even a little jail time. I mean the guy in Wall Street went to jail and he was white. I hope punishment for SEC violations continue to be so light when I'm out of college. I'll definitely commit some high-income insider trading and then just bloody retire afterwards.