The indispensable Felix Salmon has an intriguing catch from the TARP inspector general's quarterly report to Congress:
Because of the significant leveraging available and the inherent imprimatur of legitimacy associated with PPIP and TALF, these programs present an ideal opportunity to money-laundering organizations. If a criminal organization can successfully invest $10 million of illicit proceeds into a PPIF, not only does the organization enjoy the possibility of profiting through the Government-backed leverage, but any eventual distributions from the PPIF are successfully laundered because they appear to be PPIF investment gains rather than drug, prostitution, or illegal gambling proceeds.
Kind of gives new meaning to the phrase "gaming the Geithner plan."
--Noam Scheiber