Treasury Secretary censures corporate crooks

US Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill is furious about corporate "crooks" and expressed doubt that a Senate proposal gave regulators enough power adequately to punish violators.

Speaking to the US Chamber of Commerce a day after President George W. Bush gave US Big Business leaders a tongue-lashing about ethics, Mr O'Neill said corporate leaders who committed violations with auditors' help hurt all Americans: "In their greed and gluttony, these crooks sacrificed the retirement years of teachers, truck drivers, nurses and farmers to enrich themselves."

"The President has said that CEOs who cook the books will forfeit their ill-gotten gains, and they will go to jail," Mr O'Neill said, speaking against a backdrop of steadily plunging stock-market prices that analysts blame partly on investor distrust following a slew of scandals about accounting practices and business behaviour.