In the prosecution of Mr. Aleynikov the US Government sought a sentence five times as high as the two-year sentencing guideline and they were nearly successful with an 8 year term. As the New York Times Reports, “It is unprecedented for the government to seek a sentence five times as high as probation recommends and for the court to impose a sentence four times as high,” said a defense attorney, Kevin H. Marino.
Let’s look at the facts of this crime against Goldman and the damages that Goldman suffered. It is clear that Mr. Aleynikov stole the code, this has been proven. However, this breach of security had no effect on Goldman or the American people. The FBI acted immediately and Teza was stopped from using the code. Plus Teza was already a strong player in this market. In 2009 Goldman’s HF Trading unit accounted for roughly $300 million of the $31 billion or %.00967 of Goldman’s profit. Even if Mr. Aleynikov’s crimes wiped out the profit from this business for three years it would have a negligible effect on Goldman’s earnings and would have no effect to ordinary Americans. Though Mr. Aleynikov’s actions are major civil and ethical problems there are no victims in this crime.
Let’s contrast the US Government’s actions in defending Goldman as victim as compared to how the US Government prosecuted Goldman for its role in the mortgage collapse of 2008 that victimized millions of Americans.
It has been widely reported that Goldman played a massive role in the mortgage collapse of 2008 via its Abacus fund. Michael Lewis outlined Goldman’s involvement in tremendous detail in his book “The Big Short.” The collapse of Abacus was a large contributor to the financial meltdown that forced a $70 billion tax payer funded bailout of the finance industry with $3 billion going to Goldman. While history has shown the US Government profited on the Goldman bailout, the millions of Americans of modest means who lost their homes, retirements and savings may never recover from these losses. The collective damage of the proven irresponsible acts of Goldman total into the trillions yet not a single employee of Goldman was ever imprisoned. Though the SEC launched the largest fraud case ever against Goldman in April 2010 Goldman settled in July 2010 for a toothless fine and no admittance of wrongdoing.
Perhaps there’s so much news going on between Libya and Japan that we aren’t paying attention to this important story but to me the silence is deafening. There is no more illustrative example of the what is wrong with America today than in the contrast of how the US government handled Goldman as victim and as defendant. As victim, in a victimless crime, Goldman prosecutes a father of three young children and has him locked away for 8 years, against the recommendations of Federal Probabtion Officials. As defendant in the SEC Fraud Case, where Goldman is proven to have deceptive and unethical business practices that led to the economic ruin of millions of American’s they receive a slap on the wrist. No one is imprisoned and Goldman is back to record earnings.
Judge Denise L. Cote of the Federal District Court in Manhattan summed it up quite nicely in this quote “he deserves a significant sentence because the scope of his theft was audacious — motivated solely by greed, and it was characterized by supreme disloyalty to his employer.”
Source:http://www.groundreport.com/US/Goldman-Sachs-and-US-Imprison-Software-Developer-f/2936984
