who are the real crooks

While management must take the brunt of responsibility for the failure of this (or any company for that matter ), the real culprits are those outlined in the article below.
This is fundamentally why the little guy can never win.
The big players have huge resources lke the Fed and the US Govt in this case and can wait out the situation longer than any small player.
Maybe on eday the whole thing will collapse and supply demand will exert itself but who knows when ?

http://news.silverseek.com/TedButler/1226344970.php