Each year financial crime quietly occurs without a whole lot of limelight. In 2011, the IRS was investigating tax fraud, investment schemes, tax evasion, and mail fraud among other things. Similarly the FBI investigates hundreds of corporate fraud cases each year. The Securities and Exchange Commission 'brought' 735 'enforcement actions' in 2011. How much credibility is given to actions that have to be worded so carefully is debatable.
There's also the Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Comptroller of Currency and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Those are a lot of organizations to protect against various forms of financial misconduct. According to the FBI chart below, you are least safe when in the street or on the highway. 58.1% of these robberies occurred in the Northeast USA, 45.9% were in the Midwest, and 44.2% were in the West making the South the safest from robberies.
FBI Crime Files US-PDGov
FBI Corporate Fraud Cases 2005-2009
Consumer financial crimes are a problem. According to the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud $80 billion dollars were defrauded from insurance companies each year. Those costs are passed back at least in part via higher premiums. Essentially lack of financial integrity and trust costs Americans hundreds of billions of dollars each year. Gives pause for Libertarian ways of thinking in terms of cost cutting.
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