The Wall Street Journal had an article recently about the former CEO of the “doomed brokerage firm” MF Global testifying that his firm relied on their auditors, Pricewaterhouse Coopers to “make sure its finances were accurate.”

The former CEO is Jon Corzine, who was the former Governor of New Jersey and before that the former head of that famed Wall Street firm, Goldman Sachs. Mr. Corzine agreed to pay a $5 million fine to settle his role in MF Global’s collapse. For a person whose net worth is estimated at around $300 million, this is not even a slap on the wrist.

A number of articles from Vanity Fair to the New York Times have been written about the collapse of MF Global, and the fact that neither Mr. Corzine or any other officers or directors were charged with a crime. It has been suggested, by others, that it may be due to the fact that Mr. Corzine was a major contributor to President Obama and the Democratic party. But I will not venture into politics, but rather just stay with business.

As an investment banker with Goldman Sachs, Mr. Corzine certainly understood what role auditors perform for all his many clients. The role of an outside auditor or CPA firm is to examine the books and records of a firm and issue an opinion on the fairness of the financial statements taken as a whole. To perform that work, the outside CPAs rely, in large part, on the expertise of the firm’s Board and senior management. Others have stated that it was Mr. Corzine and his team that made the huge bets, with their clients’ money, on sovereign debt instruments that caused his firm to fail. And, in this case, the CPAs were relying on the former head of Goldman Sachs, a man that Joe Biden called “the smartest guy he knows, in terms of the economy and finance.” (That was not meant as a political comment as I actually like Joe!)

In my book, The Business Zoo, I cite a lesson I learned from investment bankers- “share the pain”- which means all parties to a bad deal should participate in cleaning up the mess. I am guessing that may be what is motivating Mr. Corzine as he is testifies against Pricewaterhouse Coopers or PwC. Poor PwC is having a hard year already with the Oscars and now this $3 billion lawsuit.

Jon Corzine and his team took a huge gamble with their clients’ money and lost. The PwC auditors  provided his firm with accounting advice not investment advice. Boards of Directors, the Chairman/CEO and Senior Management should be the responsible parties when a firm fails.

So, Corzine, the former CEO, pays a nominal fine, but then tries to stick it to anyone else who came near his bad deal. Sometimes, capitalism and our legal system punish the wrong people. Not fair.

News Flash! The Wall Street Journal now reports the lawsuit against PwC was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount. In my opinion, any amount over Mt. Corzine’s meager $5 million fine is still not fair.