"Charles Ross, a white-collar defense lawyer in Manhattan, said it was too soon to say whether the charges signaled the start of a flood of prosecutions in the subprime mess. He added that the government could have a tricky time proving its case. 'The subprime meltdown took a lot of people by surprise, and it was a market force beyond anybody's prediction or control,' Ross said. 'I think they've overreached to demonstrate they are cleaning up Dodge in the wake of a horrible failure no one predicted.'"