Another Tap on Goldman Sachs's Wrist

So Goldman Sachs, who has been fined for its own fraud, can hardly be expected to recognize the fraudulent behavior or so-called "red flags" of others. Goldman pays another small fine of $9.8 million from its trillions of dollars of profit and does not have to admit any wrongdoing!

And so it will go on ad infinitum--no admission of wrong doing, pay a small fine and continue "business as usual." Fraud begets fraud.

We are snookered again.

Goldman's Settlement With 'Mini Madoff' Receiver Approved
By Liz Moyer - Deal Journal

A federal judge in Florida on Friday approved a $9.8 million settlement by Goldman Sachs’ clearing and execution division in connection with a Florida Ponzi scheme that unraveled in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

Arthur Nadel’s Scoop Management Inc. and related funds lost $168 million for investors before the scheme discovered in 2009. Nadel, called “Mini Madoff” in the press as his unraveling followed soon after the discovery of Bernie Madoff’s scheme, was sentenced in 2010 to 14 years in prison.

Goldman Sachs Execution & Clearing reached the settlement with the receiver in the case in December. It wasn’t accused of wrongdoing, but was linked to Nadel through Shoreline Trading Group LLC, a broker-dealer that cleared Nadel’s trades through Goldman.

Regulators have put extra scrutiny on interactions between clearing banks and their customers. Goldman disclosed last year that its clearing division faced possible civil fraud charges by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission over whether it knew a customer was using customer accounts, and not its own money, in transactions with Goldman.

In addition, Goldman is fighting a $20.5 million arbitration award resulting from its role as clearing broker for the failed hedge fund Bayou Group LLC. The creditors of Bayou say Goldman ignored signs of fraud at the fund run by Samuel Israel III before it failed in 2005.

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