But if the penalty for malfeasance is 75% of the profits gained thereby, malfeasance is still profitable. Even if the fine were 100% of the profits, it'd still remain a profitable strategy unless the odds of being caught were 100%.
In short, penalties aren't theoretically capped at 100%. That said, it's still theoretically possible to construct situations where the expected cost of lawsuits is less than what can be gained by the illegal act. However to make that claim you'd need to correctly calculate what the chances are of getting caught is, which is far more complex than pointing to a court case where someone settled.
Maybe not, but it still has to meet with the cold harsh reality that government budgets are limited, and society isn't willing to spend arbitrarily high amounts on the justice system. Also, is the implied suggestion of giving prosecutors unlimited budgets really the right course of action here? Prosecutors are in an unique position where they can wage legal battles and get the public to pay for it. Every other participant has to pay their legal expenses out of pocket. Having a limited budget is one of the few things that keeps them in check.
