Maybe They're Not Prosecuting Wall Street Because the FBI is Playing World of Warcraft

Two University of Michigan students who were suspected of gold farming on Activision Blizzard's  (ATVI) World of Warcraft (because virtual work is the only kind people can find these days, unless it's free) got a visit from the FBI at the end of March. "Investigators seized laptop computers, hard drives, video game systems, credit cards, a cell phone, paperwork and other computer equipment, documents say."

Why is the FBI interested in virtual gold farmers? Because criminals can apparently use online games to launder money. And yet, we already know that criminals use real banks to do that. Wachovia, now owned by Wells Fargo (WFC) was used for just that purpose by Mexican drug lords, who, incidentally, were equipped by the ATF.

The feds might fear that any new investigations into banks will cause new financial turmoil. Or maybe it was just a coincidence that the financial crisis of 2008 happened to start when the cartels, fearing an investigation, paused with their money laundering. (There are other opinions on this, of course.)