Judge approves Bank of America’s slap-on-the-wrist on behalf of the SEC

You may be lulled by the title of this article from the Washington Post, "Judge criticizes, but approves, settlement with Bank of America" into believing that some semblance of justice was served by the fine imposed on Bank of America for defrauding its shareholders then turning around and accepting TARP handouts from the federal government in an effort to cover it's losses.

There are plenty of good resources you can read to get up-to-speed on the case so I won't bore you with the details. For a good recap read: The Atlantic - Bank of America's Fraud Charges are Very Serious

I'd like to focus on the money. Bank of America wrote off losses of nearly $4 billion dollars after absorbing Merrill. Then, proceeded to conceal the losses, lie about $15 billion in bonuses, then asked for approximately $45 billion in tax payer monies to help the Merrill "merger".

OK. So a judge ruled that Bank of America must settle it's feud with the SEC, or the SEC's feud with Bank of America, by paying a $150 million fine. Seems fair, it's not like we should expect Bank of America to repay the full $4 billion they stole from investors. That would be unAmerican.

$150 million is an unfathomable amount of money to an average middle class schmuck, but to a CEO ...

When Ken Lewis finally leaves Bank of America, his severance package — which is based on his track record of building an empire, then looting the shit out of it — will be in the righteous neighborhood of $125 million. By any measure, that is one helluva goodbye kiss.

A serial thief will be honored with one of the largest severance packages in American corporate history.

This is unacceptable on so many levels, but it shines a glaring light on the bankruptcy (and collusion) of our so-called "justice" system.