By Pam Martens: July 5, 2012

Gary Foster, a former low level Vice President of Citigroup, pleaded guilty to embezzling over $22 million from the firm between 2003 and 2010. Last week, Foster was sentenced to 8 years in prison. 

Compare Foster’s 7-year take to former Chairman and CEO of Citigroup, Sandy Weill’s, 5-year haul from the firm.  In just one year, 2000, Weill cashed in $196.2 million in stock options and received a bonus of $18.4 million.  His total take in a five year period: $785 million. 

There have been no clawbacks of Weill’s pay, despite the near bankruptcy of the firm and the taxpayer bailout owing to tens of billions of toxic assets hidden off the balance sheet. 

So how did Weill avoid the fate of Foster?  It’s all about getting a sycophant Board of Directors to rubber stamp your actions, filing the details with regulators, and making sure you have the same brand of sycophants at the SEC to look the other way.