Criminal Inquiry of Goldman Has 'Wider Net'

The mortgage-related deals that landed Goldman Sachs in the middle of a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation, unsurprisingly also aroused the interest of the Justice Department. And, The Washington Post reports, the Justice Department is casting a “wider net” in its investigation. It is the latest addition to a growing list of problems for the bank, whose shares have lost 20 percent of their value since the SEC filed its suit. This week, a Senate investigative committee slammed Goldman for its role in the financial collapse and the Senate is also considering major financial regulation reforms, which would potentially cost Goldman millions. "Though traditionally difficult to prove, we think the risk of a formal securities fraud charge, on top of the SEC fraud charge and pending legislation to reshape the financial industry, further muddies Goldman's outlook," Matthew Albrecht, an analyst at Standard & Poor's wrote.