Saturday, November 24, 2007

24 Months Can Seem Like A Lifetime!

One of the hot areas of fraud these days - one that you'll see a lot of attention paid to is - mortgage fraud. With the housing market slumping (crashing some would say) and the sub-prime mortgage wows being echoed far and wide, more and more you'll see reports like the one in this blog being reported.

According to the St. Louis Business Journal Bennie Clark was sentenced to 24 months in prison for his conviction on federal mortgage fraud charges. The full report is here: http://www.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2007/11/12/daily75.html

It seems that Mr. Clark participated with others in a scheme to defraud mortgage lenders through a system of buying and selling properties at inflated prices. This is not new, but certainly capturing more media attention as we witness the housing collapse in many parts of the country.

Every choice has a consequence. This is the mantra that I speak on as a Business Ethics Speaker around the country. Having made poor business choices in my past (all be it 20+ years ago), I understand full well the consequences.

Some twelve years ago I spent time in federal prison as a consequence of my actions (something I am not proud of). While some call it "Club Fed" I can assure anyone who has not been there that it is no "club". It is federal prison - make no mistake.

Perhaps the unethical actions of those associated with World Wide Financial LLC will truly sink in as they have time (no pun intended) to truly grasp the concept of choices and consequences.

While I would never want to go back...once was enough to get the message - I learned many valuable lessons, not the least of which is - EVERY CHOICE HAS A CONSEQUENCE. The nice thing is - we get to enjoy the positive results that can come from positive ethical choices.

Your thoughts?

Business Ethics Speaker - Chuck Gallagher (http://www.chuckgallagher.com) signing off...

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