Arizona Botnet Controller Draws 30-Month Federal Sentence

dgharmon writes with word from the BBC that "A U.S. hacker who sold access to thousands of hijacked home computers has been jailed for 30 months. Joshua Schichtel of Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced for renting out more than 72,000 PCs that he had taken over using computer viruses." Time is cheap: Schichtel admitted to giving access to those 72,000 computers for $1500.

Comments

Re:Hmmm

[cold fjord]

It's rather silly to commit individual crime when corporate crime pays more and there's usually no time served.

White collar criminals do indeed go to jail.

Former Chairman and CEO of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Foreign Bribery and Kickback Schemes

WASHINGTON—Albert “Jack” Stanley, a former chairman and chief executive officer of Kellogg, Brown & Root Inc. (KBR), was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for conspiring to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) by participating in a decade-long scheme to bribe Nigerian government officials to obtain engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contracts and for conspiring to commit mail and wire fraud as part of a separate kickback scheme, the Justice Department’s Criminal Division today announced.

Former TBW CEO Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—The former chief executive officer (CEO) of Taylor, Bean & Whitaker (TBW) was sentenced today to 40 months in prison for his role in a more than $2.9 billion fraud scheme that contributed to the failure of TBW. At one time, TBW was one of the largest privately held mortgage lending companies in the United States.

Two Former Canopy Financial Co-Founders Sentenced to 15 and 13 Years in Prison for $75 Million Investment Fraud and Raiding $18 Million from Custodial Heath Care Expense Accounts of 1,600 Customers

Allen Stanford Convicted in Houston for Orchestrating $7 Billion Investment Fraud Scheme

WASHINGTON—A Houston federal jury today convicted Robert Allen Stanford, the former board of directors chairman of Stanford International Bank (SIB), for orchestrating a 20-year investment fraud scheme in which he misappropriated $7 billion from SIB to finance his personal businesses.

On June 14, 2012, Robert Allen Stanford, the former Chairman of Stanford International Bank (SIB), was sentenced to 110 years in prison for orchestrating a 20 year investment fraud scheme in which he misappropriated $7 billion from SIB to finance his personal businesses and lifestyle. -- United States v. Robert Allen Stanford et al.
 

Just a sample. Just search for "CEO" to see more. It's not hard to find other examples.

Re:Hmmm

[cold fjord]

And yet not one of the CEOs responsible for the epic fraud that crashed the world economy in 2008 has even been arrested, let alone charged and tried.

Some will go to jail.

Georgia banker gets 12-year sentence for fraud

Mark Conner, former president of the failed FirstCity Bank in Georgia, was sentenced to 12 years in prison and ordered to pay $19.5 million in restitution for his part in several schemes that sunk his and at least 10 other banks.

Conner served in several top positions at the bank between 2004 and 2009. While there, he lied to the bank's board and loan committee for approvals on multimillion-dollar commercial loans to borrowers who were only using the money to buy property Conner and his co-conspirators owned, according to court documents.

He even duped at least 10 other federally insured banks to invest in the fraudulent loans. This way, Conner scammed at least $7 million for himself while shifting the risk to these other firms that eventually failed.

As the financial crisis struck, Conner then tried to unload FirstCity nonperforming loans and foreclosed homes to straw buyers, who were taking out loans from Conner to buy the assets. He then tried unsuccessfully to get a $6 million bailout from the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Some will be at least inconvenienced.

SEC charges ex-Fannie, Freddie CEOs with fraud

WASHINGTON — Two former CEOs at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on Friday became the highest-profile individuals to be charged in connection with the 2008 financial crisis.

In a lawsuit filed in New York, the Securities and Exchange Commission brought civil fraud charges against six former executives at the two firms, including former Fannie CEO Daniel Mudd and former Freddie CEO Richard Syron.. . . .

Unfortunately, the real cause of much of this is beyond the hand of the law:

How The Government Caused The Mortgage Crisis

A sad story:

While Freddie & Fannie Spanked, Dodd Leered