Justice Department to focus more on individuals in white collar crime cases

On Wednesday, the Justice Department sent a memo to federal prosecutors across the country with new policies that prioritize prosecuting individual employees on Wall Street, not just their companies.

"Corporations can only commit crimes through flesh-and-blood people," said Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, the author of the memo. "It's only fair that the people who are responsible for committing those crimes be held accountable." Previously, the Justice Department primarily went after companies as a whole, not individuals, The New York Times reports. Only after negotiating a corporate settlement did they prosecute people individually, but many perpetrators still went unpunished.

The memo tells investigators that they should focus on individuals from the get-go, and when it comes time to negotiate a settlement, companies will not be given credit for cooperating with the government unless they hand over evidence on employees "regardless of their position, status, or seniority." The department under President Obama has been criticized for being too lenient and not prosecuting enough of the executives involved in the housing and financial crises.

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