Federal investigators have opened preliminary probes into the financial troubles of four high-profile companies that are at the center of the current financial turmoil that the Bush administration says requires an unprecedented proposed taxpayer-funded bailout to clean up.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation’s preliminary inquiries are focusing on whether fraud helped cause some of the troubles at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and American International Group Inc., according to senior law-enforcement officials.

Pressure is building for the FBI and regulators to hold top executives accountable for the crisis that has crippled the nation’s finance sector. In meetings on Capitol Hill, some lawmakers raised concerns with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that by taking large stakes in some financial firms, the government may be limiting its ability to exact penalties for wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the matter.

The FBI says that the corporate probes are part of an effort to pursue allegations of higher-level fraud more sweeping than the retail-level infractions that have been at the center of most cases brought so far.

During the Savings and Loan bailout 20 years ago, federal prosecutors brought more than 600 cases against 1,000 defendants. But the complicated securities at the heart of today’s crisis make comparable prosecutions more difficult, investigators say.

Maybe we will be that lucky again and make the people who caused this to be held responsible…NOPE…I would only be dreaming.