A good and Authentic text about ethics in business
07-05-2013, 04:16 PM
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Author: Leah Wawro, Transparency International - DSP
Wed, 24 Apr 2013 06:00 AM
Yesterday, the British ‘businessman’ James McCormick was found guilty of fraud for selling millions of pounds worth of utterly useless bomb detectors to governments around the world, including a major contract in Iraq. A whistleblower alleges that McCormick paid millions of pounds in bribes to at least 15 senior Iraqi officials. This resulted in over 6,000 fake bomb detectors sold to the country, hundreds of people killed because of them, and McCormick pocketing £55 million from the Iraqi government for the job. This is less than what the US – the single largest country donor in Iraq – has allocated for primary healthcare in the country for 2012 through its Economic Support Fund.
But this wasn’t just a rogue greedy individual—the responsibility for stopping such activity is as international as the trade itself. Questions must also be asked about how a British man continued to sell these sham devices from the UK for so long. According to the Guardian, it took a full year for the devices to be banned from export after whistle-blowers raised concerns to the UK Department of Business and the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. The Guardian also states that “consignments of the devices were once stopped at the UK border before being exported and officials queried whether export documents were required. The reason none were needed was they could find no functioning electronics inside [emphasis added].” In other words, the bomb detectors could have been replaced with coat hangers with no consequence.
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Author: Leah Wawro, Transparency International - DSPWed, 24 Apr 2013 06:00 AM
Yesterday, the British ‘businessman’ James McCormick was found guilty of fraud for selling millions of pounds worth of utterly useless bomb detectors to governments around the world, including a major contract in Iraq. A whistleblower alleges that McCormick paid millions of pounds in bribes to at least 15 senior Iraqi officials. This resulted in over 6,000 fake bomb detectors sold to the country, hundreds of people killed because of them, and McCormick pocketing £55 million from the Iraqi government for the job. This is less than what the US – the single largest country donor in Iraq – has allocated for primary healthcare in the country for 2012 through its Economic Support Fund.
But this wasn’t just a rogue greedy individual—the responsibility for stopping such activity is as international as the trade itself. Questions must also be asked about how a British man continued to sell these sham devices from the UK for so long. According to the Guardian, it took a full year for the devices to be banned from export after whistle-blowers raised concerns to the UK Department of Business and the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. The Guardian also states that “consignments of the devices were once stopped at the UK border before being exported and officials queried whether export documents were required. The reason none were needed was they could find no functioning electronics inside [emphasis added].” In other words, the bomb detectors could have been replaced with coat hangers with no consequence.
