Slashdot Mirror
FBI Databases Used for Stock Fraud
Phronesis writes "The Associated Press reports that two FBI agents have been indicted for conspiring with the owner of InsideTruth.com to short stocks and then leak information from the FBI's internal databases (e.g., unpleasant personal information about corporate officers). They also allegedly blackmailed companies with the threat of revealing such information. This case illustrates the failure of law enforcement agencies to implement adequate protection against the abuse of information they collect."
I met an ex-FBI agent who was fired for not altering his forensic finding on a death in LR, Arkansas.
They wanted him to change his report to "suicide" but he wouldn't so they canned him.
He had a similar experience when he worked for the DEA. He doesn't have kind words for neither the FBI or DEA.
No, it illustrates that, human nature being what it is, there are bad apples at the FBI.
The good part is this problem was caught and fixed. That's a testament to the relative openness of the US government.
Would all you folks living in other countries who claim "My government doesn't do that!" answer this question:
How do you know your government doesn't do things like this?
My impression of foreign governments is that they are more corrupt than the US because it's easier to hide (privacy laws to protect Europe's privledged classes), and more accepted (how many European countries allow their corporations to bribe officials in other countries? How many of them even go so far as to allow tax deductions for foreign bribes?)
Corruption is corruption. At least here in the US we do tend to rail against it and not accept it as "business as usual".