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Comment by staunch | Hacker News Reader

I don't see why it wouldn't make sense. As long as it's handled in a careful way. You can pay extra to expedite all kinds of government services, why not SEC investigations?

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It creates a conflict of interest for the attorneys. It sets a precedent that wealthy people can receive faster treatment from the SEC. Of course, the SEC tends to investigate people who have made large amounts of money through potentially illegal means, so this may not be an issue. However, it also provides less incentive for the SEC to move quickly on other cases. If the SEC can accept money in exchange for speeding up the process, they are now one step away from slowing down or drawing out the whole process as a means for extorting money.

"SEC tends to investigate people who have made large amounts of money through potentially illegal means"

I suspect it is illegal to accept illegally-obtained money. Therefore, if Mark was found guilty, the staff cannot be paid. Which also gives incentive to not find him guilty, resulting in a conflict of interest. IANAL, though.

Dollars are the ultimate fungible good, and he didn't obtain all of his money from this alleged offense, so as long (total_net_worth - alleged_offense_gains) > expeditionary_payment, I don't see how this would be an issue.

No, his staff are still owed unless they're complicit. Are you going to raid his janitor for happening to sweep the wrong floor? Same concept.

Your parent meant the SEC staff, not Mark Cuban's staff.

D'oh!

Wealthy people can receive faster service for hundreds of government services.

http://www.google.com/#q=site%3Agov+expedite+fee

It could be construed as a bribe. If the money is coming from Cuban, they could be less likely to bring judgement against him.

It doesn't actually matter if this is true or not; perception is reality.

expediting other gov't services = getting a few things stamped

can't work with SEC, since they have to do interviews etc

That's still a problem that money can solve - hire more interviewers.

According to the WSJ, a big part of the problem is navigating the voluminous paperwork. Adding additional clerks and lawyers to go through the whole file would probably expedite things quite a bit.

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