Wow! The kid here is not easily impressed, but that Greenwich could be outraged by a mansion does it. That must be some King Ludwig chateau he’s planning.

On topic, Mueller testified on FBI white collar crime investigations involving mortgage lenders as part of submitting his budget request to Congress.

“When this budget was put together, the subprime mortgage cases had not grown to the point where we could see the extent of the surge, and I’m not certain at this point we can see the extent of the surge,” he said.

Bureau officials have said the probe is targeting major corporate insiders as well as lower ranks, and could take years to conclude.

White collar cases do suck in lots of resources, which is always given as one reason more are not pursued. It will be interesting to see what cases result in, say, 2009, 2010, or 2011 from this.

The article also notes the steady sales of high-end yachts (who knew there is such a thing as a “low-end” yacht?).

Technically, a yacht is any recreational boat. So, yeah, there are low end yachts. They’re sailing dinghies like the Laser or Force 5.

BC

And not a pair of handcuffs or a jumpsuit in sight. *sigh*

Unfortunately, the day he submitted the legislation was the same day that the Monica Lewinsky thing broke in the papers…the thing could get no traction at all and died.

Drifting in from the garden I wold say that that sucks. Now I will return to raking.

Russian Billionaire Valery Kogan Outrages Greenwich, CT With Supermansion

Greenwich, CT is in an uproar over a mysterious Russian billionaire’s proposal to buy an $18 million home, tear it down, and build what would be the biggest home ever built in the tony Connecticut enclave – a 27,000 square foot supermansion. The billionaire in question is reportedly Valery Kogan, who has ties to Vladimir Putin.

The Connecticut property is the latest in a buying spree. Just last month he finished purchasing a huge beachfront lot in Israel, combining 5 neighboring properties, for about $17 million (scroll down for more). He’ll be tearing down existing homes there, too.

The expansive plans for the new Connecticut home include 26 bathrooms, a billiards room, game room, Turkish bath, Finnish bath, a wine cellar and a dog grooming room.