The British Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has egg on its face now over the realization that no one thought that maybe, just maybe, many of the people prosecuted under Operation Ore were victims of fraud. The investigators apparently never even thought that it was possible, and according to one report sneered at a respected businessman when he told them that he had been the victim of credit card fraud. With police and detectives like that, it's no wonder that Britain is having problems with violent criminals because, as we all know, people who buy illegal goods never, ever commit white collar economic crimes like credit card fraud! Still, it's great news that this operation has been exposed as an imbecilic one, so maybe many of these guys can now point out that they really were telling the truth when they said that their credit cards were stolen, and that it wasn't them.

The best argument I have seen on how to handle this, actually comes from a Slashdot comment. In a situation like this, the judge should have the authority to issue an order demoting the relevant law enforcement officers, and to convene a disbarment trial for the prosecutor who brought the charges.