Catch Us If You Can

A dearth of FBI agents keeps S&L villains at large

In Texas' pine-covered Eastern District, where failed thrifts are about as common as pickup trucks, U.S. Attorney Robert Wortham has a problem. Some 30 financial institutions have already gone belly-up or come under Government supervision; 59 more are under investigation for fraud. But Wortham, with a team of five FBI agents, doesn't have the manpower needed to unravel the bankers' dastardly deeds. "I've begged. I've pleaded. I've complained up the ladder," said Wortham at a hearing last week before the House Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs Subcommittee. "I could ask my mother to do it . . . but I don't...

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