Angry Spaniards Crowdfund Money To Try To Bring Former Banking Boss To Court For Bank Collapse
from the crowdfunding-justice dept
Francisco sent over an interesting story of how a bunch of people in Spain were able to crowdfund a bunch of money in an attempt to bring Rodrigo Rato, the former chair of one of Spain's largest banks, Bankia, to justice for driving the bank into the ground until it had to be bailed out. In just one day, they were able to blast past the €15,000 they were seeking.I have to admit that I'm interested in this as an outlet for populist outrage, but I do wonder how effective it really is. An English version of the site claims they plan "criminal and civil actions against members of Bankia's Board of Directors," and they "demand prison and seizure of assets." While they can file civil claims, criminal charges have to come from the government. So the goal is to use the money not just for filing a civil suit, but also to hire independent investigators and auditors to work towards building enough details and evidence that it forces the government to file criminal charges as well. This seems like a project that has a ridiculously high likelihood of failure.
Separately, while I tend to agree that the banks were run by some insanely greedy people who did many questionable things, I think it's going a little mob-like "burn him!" crazy to try to pin the problems on a single person. The global economy is still a mess, and the European economy is in turmoil, with Spain being a big part of that. In other words, there are larger economic issues at play here that go beyond just one banker, even if it turns out that he was a really bad banker.
Either way, though, I am fascinated to see how crowdfunding evolves over time, and the unique ways people use it -- and this is certainly a unique plan.
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Filed Under: bailout, banking, crowdfunding, europe, rodrigo rato, spain
Companies: bankia
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Watch out Angry Birds
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One word:
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Why Not!!!!
Just let a few of them be bankrupted by the public for there actions and possibly jailed and the rest of them that feel untouchable will soon reign in there gambling with there clients money.
The other problem is why the government has not investigated and done something to stop bankers destroying there banks and gambling there customers money away, before giving a government bailout. I mean seriously if i was not doing my job correctly the business is not going to give me even more money to correct my mistake just so i can repeat them again.
There is something very corrupt about what is going on and i suspect that when everyone realizes what has happened they will be calling for more than jail time and if the government is not prepared to correct the wrong i am sure the public will.
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Re: Why Not!!!!
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Re: Why Not!!!!
That is the problem. If banks were allowed to fail, as the free market dictates, then everything would be fine. Idiot bankers who take large risks would be punished, and smart bankers who take sensible risks would be rewarded.
The WORST thing governments can do is bail-out banks. Sure, there is lots of short term chaos and pain when banks close. But everything in life has risks. If you didn't know what your bank was investing in, then you partially deserve the loss. The reality is bank closures hurt large investors more than regular people. That is why bondholders clammer so much to bail out banks. It isn't to help you and me, it is to help them.
The thing that is so dumb is Spain's problems are with a housing bubble. Doesn't anybody learn? Back in the day, the only way to make money off real estate was in renting. Now, people think they can buy a condo, wait 3 months, and sell it for a profit. Anyone who loses money this way deserves to go broke.
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Re: Re: Why Not!!!!
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Re: Re: Why Not!!!!
I'd call that defrauding the country.
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If this works
Its one of the few times I like lots of starving out of work lawyers as they can just go after people for fucking things up.
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/paywallbob
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Private Prosocution
"Unlike U.S. law, where criminal charges are brought only by a government prosecutor, Spanish law allows ordinary citizens to pursue criminal actions by filing criminal complaints."
See http://www.cja.org/article.php?id=342
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Re: Private Prosocution
Stop assuming everyone that US law is the law of the world.
European law is different to English law, English law is different to US law, Justice is barely a part of any law
Ok.. I threw that last one in to see if anyone is paying attention ;)
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The public only think this way because there are no proven alternatives. When someone proves an alternative you get a game changer that can swing power the other way as people can then "vote with there wallet" by putting money into lawsuits to challenge the establishment.
Of course as soon as this happens someone with more money will plug the loophole that allowed a person in power to go down to the mob.
Its just a legal arms race.
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LoL
Now there is a funny irony.
The word "rato" in spanish means "rat", a banker named rat is just priceless.
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they got a point
I kinda like this, hope this will be followed elsewhere. There's a lot of "burn him" sentiment all over, can't say I really blame people.
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And all I can think is....
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Re: And all I can think is....
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As well as the 18 year old who was caught kissing his 17 year old girl friend in the wrong town.
Or the guy who was naked in his own house, seen from people who were cutting across his lawn, then arrested while in bed for trumped up charges.
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It is better known by the handle of 'Peasants with pitchforks'.
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OMG hilarious and proof positive that Devolution of the species is happening!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsecDcTpVmw
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Strange...
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"We" chose him because he is the most visible head of all this mess, he was an important person inside the party that's currently in Spain's government (Partido Popular), when he left the party on 2004 he ended in the IMF managing it disastrously, and in 2010 he became the president of the bank Bankia, leading it towards a bailout.
That said, the endless connection of former politicians with these poorly managed banks explains by itself why the Spanish justice is so silent about this issue. The list of alleged corrupt politicians is as big as the irregularities in banks businesses and managing of the public money. As we see everyday, justice is not as independent as we'd like to.
No one with power wants others to talk because they're all so full of sh**; so they keep each other happy and not willing to say anything by giving them(selves) useless jobs (*ejem* counselors) in the top management of important enterprises or public institutions, or retiring them with huge compensations.
This crowdfunding, at least, shows them that they're not untouchable, that there's people out there that will not wait arms crossed. And also, it proves the strenght of the Internet to gather people towards something fair and show ourselves that we're not alone, and that we're not the only ones seeking for justice.
If everything goes as planned, enough evidence will be found and we'll see Mr. Rato facing a judge, if everything goes BETTER than planned, he will not be the only one.
Cheers!
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Re:
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If you paid for Spanish lessons ask for your money back.
"Rato" does not mean rate nor time, but a "time frame", especially a short one as in "por un rato". Rate is "grado", "�ndice", "ratio"
Also, "rato" (or "rat�n") does mean rat -- a male rat. So yes, this banker was appropriately named a rat.
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bankers
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Never forget that bankers greed from the World Trade Centre blood, and the lies and miselling of mortgages and manipulation of people, created this world financial crisis, this BBC video explains how it was done and shows some of the leading players. It goes onto say why the governments relaxed the regulations and then were forced to help the banks with our tax money, and how the bankers are spending our money today. It's all based on blood money and it's sickening. Some of the 1% don't deserve what they have. Please watch and get angry.
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