NorthWest Biotherapeutics Inc (NWBO)

[HappyLibrarian]

Just because multiple attempts to stop civil or criminal wrongdoing have failed does not mean wrongdoing is not taking place.

John Gotti ran a non-transparent business and was known as the “Teflon Don” because even though multiple cases were brought against him, over a period of years, nothing could be made to stick, and this was with considerable resources being thrown at his organization by the federal government, which has subpoena power wiretapping with a warrant etc.

To bring down John Gotti’s business the Code if Omerta or silence (familiar to NWBO shareholders) had to be broken by catching one of Gotti’s people in such serious charges that he was willing to flip and go into witness protection.

By contrast, because NWBO is not killing people like Gotti’s group and because politicians out of self preservation make white collar wrongdoing non-criminal or if criminal then less serious than violent offenses, far fewer resources are available and the civil litigants did not have the ability to get information as law enforcement can. At least the SEC did force changes at NWBO even if, as with Herbalife, which also had to respond to regulator’s concerns NWBO was able to negotiate the rough civil equivalent of ‘adjudication withheld’ where they settled the matter without admitting culpability.

If NWBO or Herbalife for that matter, do not make real changes and keep on doing wrong then eventually they will slip up or create enough of a stink that regulators and maybe law enforcement will invest real time in catching them or will target one executive on an unrelated matter who will testify and help build a case.

Unless and until white collar offenses whether civil or criminal are taken more seriously (and indeed they can wreck more lives than a murder does at times) most efforts to impose accountability for them will fail for lack of resources and legal ability to gather evidence by wiretapping, etc.. This does not mean that those trying to do so are making false allegations.