December 03, 2007
Is White Collar Crime Really Less Evil than Violent Crime?
Conrad Black has started his public rantings again against this time the US legal system. In an article in today's Globe and Mail, he claims he is innocent. He has not yet been sentenced but he is speaking out. But hey that is Conrad. He cannot stop talking even when it might cut his jail time.
Conrad played by his own rules, not the ones he was supposed to. Just because he thinks that some of the charges were dropped, does not mean they were not true, the prosecutors may just have had to pick their battles to win the war.
But to me the most interesting item in this article relates not to Conrad Black, who frankly raided the corporate cookie jar and got caught.
A Mr. Frenkel from the British Press is quoted in this article: "There's no question that the conviction of [ex-Enron CEO] Jeffrey Skilling warranted jail, but when drug dealers and murderers are serving fewer than the 24 years he will be serving, there is certainly an inequity."
I beg to differ. Has anyone ever bothered to go back and count the lives that were lost due to suicide from these fraudulent investments? Those who ended it all because they lost their life savings. They believed the fraudulent promises of these white collar criminals such as Jeffrey Skillings, Conrad Black, etc..
How many people did not go to college because savings were lost? How many people ended up homeless because they lost their money? Why are these consequences not counted among the "lives wrecked or lost? It is easier when there is a murder or drugs sold to say these criminals are evil, but that is only because the wreckage is either tracked by government statistics or covered by the media.
The personal economic devastation caused by these criminals, and they are criminals, is real and they should be punished just like other criminals.
There is a good reason to have good governance. It is not just fluff. The truth matters. Investors should be able to trust what officers of companies publish in their financial records and news releases. There has to be accountability.
Those former corporate titans like Jeffrey Skillings and Conrad Black always thought they were the smartest ones in the room. But at least for awhile, their rooms are far away from the public and their ability to commit crimes is diminished.
Conrad played by his own rules, not the ones he was supposed to. Just because he thinks that some of the charges were dropped, does not mean they were not true, the prosecutors may just have had to pick their battles to win the war.
But to me the most interesting item in this article relates not to Conrad Black, who frankly raided the corporate cookie jar and got caught.
A Mr. Frenkel from the British Press is quoted in this article: "There's no question that the conviction of [ex-Enron CEO] Jeffrey Skilling warranted jail, but when drug dealers and murderers are serving fewer than the 24 years he will be serving, there is certainly an inequity."
I beg to differ. Has anyone ever bothered to go back and count the lives that were lost due to suicide from these fraudulent investments? Those who ended it all because they lost their life savings. They believed the fraudulent promises of these white collar criminals such as Jeffrey Skillings, Conrad Black, etc..
How many people did not go to college because savings were lost? How many people ended up homeless because they lost their money? Why are these consequences not counted among the "lives wrecked or lost? It is easier when there is a murder or drugs sold to say these criminals are evil, but that is only because the wreckage is either tracked by government statistics or covered by the media.
The personal economic devastation caused by these criminals, and they are criminals, is real and they should be punished just like other criminals.
There is a good reason to have good governance. It is not just fluff. The truth matters. Investors should be able to trust what officers of companies publish in their financial records and news releases. There has to be accountability.
Those former corporate titans like Jeffrey Skillings and Conrad Black always thought they were the smartest ones in the room. But at least for awhile, their rooms are far away from the public and their ability to commit crimes is diminished.
