(By Joe Koletar) Or, to paraphrase an old TV host, “Now, for a really BIG show…”
Is this an example of a really big, and corrupt, Farmer’s Market?
The Wall Street Journal of April 7, 2015 carried the following Page One article:
“Brazil Cracks Open Vast Bribery Scandal,” by Will Connors and Luciana Magalhaes.
The article indicates that a man named Paulo Roberto Costa, a former oil executive, had a problem, but had been able to successfully stall and evade it for a significant period… until prosecutors began to go after his family for potential evidence tampering. Then the game changed. Facing six stern prosecutors in a small office, he began to talk, and talk he did. He talked of money generated through inflated invoices, of money-laundering to hide that money, and of bribes paid to politicians and regulators. All told, hundreds of millions of dollars.
Mr. Costa not only gave evidence to Brazilian prosecutors, but also to Brazil’s Congress. A public uproar resulted, much like what in the U.S. we could call “Costagate.” Others may well come forward, to help themselves by belatedly confessing their sins, and seeking refuge among the company of angels. It happens all the time, in the U.S. and abroad.
One hopes the prosecutors are young, since they have a long road ahead of them, particularly when high-priced lawyers become involved, as they always do. Negotiations will take place, deals will be made, and the dance will continue. But this begs the essential issue – why did the hundreds who had to know what was going on not come forward? Perhaps a few did, and were ignored or silenced. (Costa only came forward when he thought his family was in danger.)
More recently, the Speaker of Brazil’s House announced he is splitting with President Dilma Rousseff’s government for dragging him into the corruption probe at Petrobras, Brazil’s state-controlled petroleum company. This speaks to a poisonous political and business environment in that nation.
We seem to never learn the lessons of the past. In my generation we sought to free the people of South Vietnam (SVN) from a corrupt government and an external threat. Actually, the two were closely intertwined. We won the war militarily, but could not teach, or force, the people of SVN to be free, although we did try to win their “hearts and minds.” We have been doing it now for over a decade in the Middle East, and one dictator seems to replace the previous dictator.
How do we succeed? Armed revolution is not the answer, but neither is passive acceptance. History teaches us that the only thing that seems to work – to stoke the desire of the people to be free – is the non-violent tactics of Gandhi and Martin Luther King. Those worked.
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
Comments are welcome.
Copyright 2015
Joseph W. Koletar
Join us for more insights into behavioral forensics (behind fraud and similar white collar crimes) from the authors of A.B.C.s of Behavioral Forensics (Wiley, 2013): Sri Ramamoorti, Ph. D., Daven Morrison, M.D., and Joe Koletar, D.P.A., along with Vic Hartman, J.D. These distinguished experts come from the disciplines of psychology, medicine, accounting, law, and law enforcement to explain and prevent fraud. Because we are inspired to bring to light and address the fraud problems in today’s headlines, we encourage our readers to come back and revisit us regularly at BringingFreudtoFraud.com.