NEW YORK (Fortune) -- Where are the perp walks for the subprime mortgage executives that dragged us into this mess?
Three years after the housing bubble popped, federal prosecutors have yet to bring a case against the executives whose firms took part in some of the worst excesses of the subprime mortgage market.
It's not like there's a shortage of abuses to investigate. The landscape is littered with the wreckage of financial institutions that crashed under the weight of bad loans, costing shareholders and taxpayers billions of dollars. "Many" lenders that went bust were cooking their books before they collapsed, according to a 2007 FBI report. Meanwhile, top officers at many mortgage shops were pocketing hefty paychecks and stock sale proceeds. |