Abstract
Orange County's bankruptcy is the largest governmental bankruptcy in U.S. history. Initial reports blamed the county's financial difficulties on the county treasurer's gambling with taxpayer dollars in the high-risk derivative market. This article forwards the argument that it was not simply “risky business” that caused the bankruptcy; rather, fraud and other forms of white-collar crime played a significant role in the $2 billion debacle. Using concepts and theories from the literature on white-collar crime and drawing comparisons with other financial scandals, most notably the savings and loan crisis, the authors argue that the financial downfall of Orange County was due to a “criminogenic environment” that allowed for concerted ignorance among officials who were motivated by a fear of falling from their positions of power.
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