Accountability

The results of a $38 million investigation -- contained in a 2,200 page report -- are in, and according to lead investigator Anton R. Valukas, Lehman Brothers Holdings was in trouble long before bankruptcy sealed the bank's fate.

New York Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo recused himself from an ongoing investigation into Gov. David A. Paterson’s alleged ethics violations, appointing retired judge Judith S. Kaye to continue the inquiry in his stead.

Medicare and Medicaid are big. Really big. $342 billion big. And, like a sugary Jolly Ranger placed upon an ant hill, this bigness tends to attract certain unsavory elements (read: fraudsters) that, over time, can cost the government billions upon billions of dollars.

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, up for reelection this year, has proposed a series of actions intended to repair New York’s recurring budget problems and out-year budget gaps by requiring the state to address out-year budget gaps and attain multi-year budget balance, align spending with available resources, limit debt and curb the use of what he referred to as "fiscal gimmicks."

Shouldn't he have seen this coming?

A nationally known self-proclaimed psychic has been charged with securities fraud by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The SEC alleges that Sean David Morton -- who calls himself "America's Prophet" -- fraudulently raised $6 million after telling investors he could predict stock market highs and lows.

A certain Massachusetts tax attorney may have chosen the wrong career.

Kevin Kilduff has been barred from practicing before the IRS for 48 months for failing to file his own taxes properly. He completely skipped one federal tax return and filed another five returns late, the agency announced in a statement.

If you thought you'd seen the last of Charles Ponzi's favorite scam, think again: yet another scheme reportedly been discovered by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) -- this one to the tune of $135 million.

The SEC has charged a prominent Miami-based business leader and his wife with fraud for conducting a vast Ponzi scheme with real estate investments from hundreds of elderly Cuban-American investors living in South Florida.

David A. Paterson, still the governor of New York despite growing demands that he resign from office, faces ethics charges today, adding to the already sizeable heap of scandals that have captured the imaginations of New Yorkers everywhere. Now, on top of everything else Paterson has been trying to deal with, the governor is accused of using his influence to get free Yankees tickets and then lying about it under oath.

Embattled Congressman Charles Rangel (D – NY) has announced that he will be temporarily stepping down from his position as chair of the House Ways and Means Committee. Rangel has been the target of numerous ethics investigations over the past year and a half involving an eclectic mix of charges.

A group of 13 ministers have urged the IRS to investigate whether a Washington D.C. townhouse used as a home-away-from-home for Christian lawmakers actually constitutes a church as its owners insist.