Forbes: Hoosegow Bound

I noted in November that Cendant Corp. fraudster-in-chief Walter Forbes was finally convicted in the well-aged accounting scandal that robbed Cendant employees and investors of more than $3 billion (and me of many nights and weekends in my first year out of college).

Today, the kingpin of the largest corporate malfeasance in American history, prior to Fraud's Golden Age, was sentenced to a meaty 12 years and 7 months in prison for conspiracy to commit securities fraud and making false statements.  So he'll get out before Ebbers (Worldcom) and Skilling (Enron), but he'll still be cooling his heels when Kozlowski (Tyco), Fastow (Enron), and Waksal (ImClone) are sprung.

Forbes tried to argue that his advanced age (all of 64) should fetch him a lighter sentence.  But his age only became so advanced because he was able to avoid conviction for so incredibly long.  The lengthy investigative and prosecutorial journey saw two mistrials before Forbes was finally found guilty.  If he'd started a 12-year sentence back when his skulduggery was unearthed, at a spry 56, he'd already be more than halfway to a halfway house.

The folly of youth.

Previously:  The Wheels of Justice Turn Imperceptibly