The Libor Rate Rigging Scandal Can and Should Lead to Arrests and Jail Time

If I read any more stories about bankster malfeasance I'm going to have an aneurysm. The Guardian reports that American and European authorities are close to arresting some of the bankers involved in the egregious Libor Rate Rigging Scandal:

American prosecutors and European regulators are close to arresting individual traders over the Libor scandal and charging them with colluding to manipulate global benchmark interest rates, according to sources familiar with the investigation.

If we don't start arresting banksters, they are just going to keep stealing from us in every way that can be imagined. Colluding to manipulate global interest rates amounts to stealing from nearly everyone at once in a stunningly diabolical worldwide skimming conspiracy. But if they can't steal from us that way, JPMorgan has most recently shown they have plenty of other ways to steal from us. JPMorgan is clearly taking its competition with Goldman Sachs for the title of most vile vampire squid seriously, as it has been using its implicit taxpayer guarantee of future bailouts to make highly risky multibillion dollar bets while also fraudulently manipulating energy markets. Get a load of this report by the LA Times:

The ISO, a nonprofit corporation controlled by the state government, estimates that JPMorgan may have gamed the state's power market for $57 million in improper payments over six months in 2010 and 2011.

But that could be just the tip of the iceberg: The bank continued its activities past that time frame, according to the ISO. It also says JPMorgan's alleged manipulation could have helped throw the entire energy market out of whack, imposing what could be incalculable costs on ratepayers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the regulator of the ISO and its trading markets, has started a formal investigation into Morgan's allegedly manipulative energy deals in California and with the Midwest ISO, which covers 11 states from Michigan to Montana.

What balls they have! Enron got caught doing this kind of thing just ten short years ago, and already the Wall Street piggies are back at the trough. Have they no shame? If they don't, they could certainly afford to buy some.

Arrest the banksters and bring them to justice. It's the only way for our economy to heal over the long term.