Matt Taibbi Quotes

The subconscious moral sense or the people has come to a distinct realization of the fact that crimes are possible in what we call high finance as they are in lower quarters.

White-collar crime gets more outrageous by the second in America.

I've never taken one cent from a savings and loan. I've never taken one cent from an oil company ...

A person who steals a chicken might go to jail … but a person who steals millions is welcome to be a member of the Federation Council or the Duma.

We have decriminalized Wall Street malfeasance.

A street criminal can steal only what he can carry, but with a stroke of a pen, the dialing of a telephone or the pushing of a computer key, the white collar criminal can and does steal billions.

Corruption and illicit financial flows are different. But they really must be twinned. This is because, for practical purposes, it is an eminently more sensible approach to treat most of the sources of illicit financial flows as corrupt activity, within a broader use of the term.

Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, has seen a few financial schemes in his time. As the lead local prosecutor in the world's financial capital, he has battled frauds like the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which stole billions of dollars from investors worldwide.

From coast to coast, the FBI and Securities and Exchange Commission have ensnared people not only at hedge funds, but at technology and pharmaceutical companies, consulting and law firms, government agencies, and even a major stock exchange.

White-collar crime has been marketed - billions of dollars have been put in to have us be bored by it.

You have a guy like Bernie Madoff literally steal $80 billion, you know, AIG steal hundreds of billions, Goldman Sachs. Crime has changed so much, and to really do a movie with, like, drug dealers or drug smugglers is kind of almost quaint at this point.

We have even made businessmen return money that they have looted from the Exchequer in the past.

Follow the Money

A special prosecutor follows the money and follows the lies.

Theft and corruption in the private sector is as bad as that in government and must be dealt with decisively by law enforcement agencies.

White collar crime must be taken as seriously as any other crime.

Britain is the epicentre of financial fraud. Most major players outsource their fraud here because London is the unregulated cesspit of global finance.

To those who have being stealing government money, it has to come to an end.

The two greatest priorities for my government are tackling tax evasion and corruption.

The company accountant is shy and retiring. He's shy a quarter of a million dollars. That's why he's retiring.

Christopher Finazzo had a great job that paid him millions of dollars, but this honest living was apparently not enough to satisfy his greed.

I spent 10 years as a marketing manager. I've found my experience in the financial world invaluable background for writing about white-collar crimes.

Undoubtedly there are, in connection with each of these things, cases of fraud, swindling, and other financial crimes; that is to say, the greed and selfishness of men are perpetual.

A man with a briefcase can steal millions more than any man with a gun.

Legitimate institutions historically have been defenseless in the face of outright fraud.