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Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, author of a memo outlining
the rules for federal prosecutors, was to announce the
guidelines in a speech on Thursday at the New York University
Law School.
The memo, first obtained by the New York Times, came in response
to criticism that the Obama administration had not vigorously
pursued individuals in the financial meltdown and housing crisis
of 2008-2009 and in various corporate scandals, the newspaper
said.
"Crime is crime," Yates planned to say in her address, according
to excerpts released by the Justice Department.
"And it is our obligation at the Justice Department to ensure
that we are holding lawbreakers accountable regardless of
whether they commit their crimes on the street corner or in the
board room," she added. "In the white-collar context, that means
pursuing not just corporate entities but also the individuals
through which these corporations act."
By going after individuals, Yates said the Justice Department
wanted to "change corporate culture to appropriately recognize
the full costs of wrongdoing, rather than treating liability as
a cost of doing business."
Yates said companies would not get credit for cooperating with
investigators unless they identify all employees responsible for
crimes - regardless of executive rank or seniority - and turn
over all evidence against them. Civil and criminal attorneys
both should focus on individuals from the beginning of an
investigation, the memo said.
It also said cases against corporations should not be resolved
unless there is a clear plan to resolve related cases against
individuals.
Yates said companies would not be allowed to let low-level
employees take the blame in criminal cases.
"We’re not going to be accepting a company's cooperation when
they just offer up the vice president in charge of going to
jail," she told the Times.
(Writing by Bill Trott; Editing by Peter Cooney)
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