The U.S. Justice Department said it will not pursue criminal charges against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. or its employees on accusations that the firm bet against the same subprime mortgage securities it was selling to clients, Reuters reported. The decision not to prosecute Goldman, a firm held up by critics as a symbol of Wall Street greed during the 2007-2009 financial crisis, highlighted the difficulty in prosecuting crisis-related cases. “The department and investigative agencies ultimately concluded that the burden of proof to bring a criminal case could not be met based on the law and facts as they exist at this time,” the Justice Department said in a statement late Thursday. Neil Barofsky, a former watchdog for the U.S. government’s financial system bailout in 2008, said the announcement was a stark reminder that no individual or institution had been held meaningfully accountable for their role in the financial crisis, Reuters reported.