Fannie Mae not any different from Enron
According to reports in the D.C. press, Franklin Raines, the former CEO of Fannie Mae has just plunked down $5 million for an apartment at the Ritz-Carlton Residences in Washington, D.C.
Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, was sentenced on Oct. 24, 2006 to 24 years in prison for fraudulently "cooking" the books to artificially prop up profits in order for the top tier Enron executives to receive lavish bonuses.
In 2006 the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight sued Franklin Raines and other executives of Fannie Mae. Announcing the administrative charges in December 2006, OFHEO Director James B. Lockhart III said the former executives "improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses ... misleading the regulator and the public." These charges cover 1998 to 2004. Fannie Mae was forced to restate their earnings for this period thus wiping out a fictitious $6.3 billion in profits. The OFHEO sued to recoup over $115 million in compensation earned by Raines and others.
Gee, Franklin Raines and others did virtually the same thing that Jeffrey Skilling did at Enron. Raines is able to plunk down $5 million, much of which came from what he got from his Fannie Mae tenure, for some fancy digs at the Ritz while Skilling is being hosted by the taxpayers at a federal prison. Justice? Let's hold Mr. Raines to the same scrutiny that landed Mr. Skilling in prison and then we'll have true justice.
Steve Sarich
Grayslake