” civil fraud charges “
CIVIL??? That means, what, a slap on the wrist and a small fine??
Question - does this preclude criminal fraud charges in the future??
I can't see why it would -- there are certainly cases where criminal charges went nowhere, and civil charges were brought.
I don't know about criminal cases, but I believe that in civil cases, defendants can name others as "third-party-defendants", charging, e.g., that they are really the ones responsible for the problem. If these defendants have real pit-bull lawyers, the possibilities are endless!