SEC Settlement Lets Officials Off Easy

The so-called Orange County “bankruptcy” might better be characterized as a confidence game played by the Orange County supervisors, Merrill Lynch, assorted “big hitters,” “connected” lawyers and public relations firms. Once the ruse was discovered and made public by John Moorlach, everyone involved, and that means everyone, either ran for cover, hired a lawyer, found religion or claimed dementia.

A Mafia-like set of unwritten rules exist here. Each goon has a piece of turf, where other goons are forced to pay tribute (i.e., campaign contributions), and each has to play by the script. In this case, the script was in the form of “derivatives,” the complexity of which permitted everyone to make huge amounts of money, and “nobody gets hurt.”

PATRICK MALLON

Lake Forest

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* Your Jan. 16 article, “SEC to Settle With Raabe in Return for Securities Vow,” about the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission allowing our supervisors to avoid prosecution by agreeing not to do anything illegal in the future only reminds us all that white-collar crime pays if you steal over $1 billion. The Orange County supervisors now join the billion-dollar club along with Ivan Boesky and Michael Milken.

GEOFF LERNER

Yorba Linda

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* Did I read those lines correctly: that sources stated, “none will face federal criminal charges”? Did I also read that “. . . lenient settlements are being offered to all county officials targeted in the worst municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history”?

Holy cow! In elementary school, I got my hands slapped repeatedly with a ruler and threats of parent notification for smoking a cigarette behind the school! What the heck is going on? Did I really read that after a yearlong probe, the SEC’s decision is to bring absolutely no charges against a bunch of irresponsible egocentrics who now are held unaccountable for the loss of over $1.6 billion dollars? And I thought O.J. skated. Oh, excuse me, my omission. Those Orange County administrators were cautioned, “no more jumping on that bed, for if you are caught playing around with those stocks and bonds again, you’ll face some truly severe punishment.” Hey, I’ll take that federal ruling; sure beats a ruler to the knuckles or two days sucking stale air in a bedroom!

PETER BURNWELL

Fountain Valley