| #521 - December 12, 2007 |
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| #521 Updated: 12/12/07 1:58 p.m. Nearly 40% of "Ethically Prepared" Teens Believe Lying, Cheating or Violence Necessary to Succeed smartpros.com | 12/12/07 | Staff Writer The majority of teens surveyed (71 percent) say they feel fully prepared to make ethical decisions when they enter the workforce. Yet 38 percent of that group believe it is sometimes necessary to cheat, plagiarize, lie or even behave violently in order to succeed. Nearly one- quarter (24 percent) of all teens surveyed think cheating on a test is acceptable on some level, and more than half of those teens (54 percent) say their personal desire to succeed is the rationale. In a particularly alarming finding given recent cases of school violence, nearly one-quarter (23 percent) of all teens surveyed think violence toward another person is acceptable on some level. Of those who think so, the justifications for violence include settling an argument (27 percent) and revenge (20 percent). "The high percentages of teenagers who freely admit that unethical behavior can be justified is alarming," said David Miller, Ph.D., executive director of the Yale Center for Faith and Culture and Assistant Professor (Adjunct) of Business Ethics, who reviewed the findings. "It suggests an attitude of ethical relativism and rationalization of whatever actions serve one's immediate needs and purposes." "This way of thinking will inevitably lead to unethical if not illegal actions that will damage individual lives and ruin corporate reputations," he said. Pressure to succeed in school seems to be driving many teens’ opinions that unethical behavior is an acceptable means to an end. Of the teens who think plagiarism is acceptable on some level, 37 percent think a personal desire to succeed is justification -- that number climbs to 51 percent among the students who feel overwhelming pressure to succeed. The survey also found that teens have difficulty in understanding that unethical behavior transcends the boundaries between private life, school or work life, and online behavior. More than a quarter (27 percent) of all teens surveyed said it is not fair for an employer to suspend or fire employees for unethical behavior outside of their jobs and another quarter (26 percent) said they weren’t sure if it was fair or not. Additionally, more than half (57 percent) of all teens surveyed believe it is not fair for employers to make hiring or firing decisions based on material they have posted to the Internet and another 19 percent weren’t sure if it was fair or not. Illustrating teens’ perception of different ethical standards for online versus "real world" behavior, nearly half (47 percent) of teens said it was acceptable on some level to illegally download music without paying for it, but only 5 percent said it was acceptable to steal something from a store. Junior Achievement and Deloitte recently launched "JA Business Ethics" in a continuation of their $2 million initiative to help young people make ethical decisions. "JA Business Ethics" is a new program developed in response to the needs of high school students; it provides hands-on classroom activities and real-life applications designed to foster ethical decision-making as students prepare to enter the workforce. Students examine how their beliefs align with major ethics theories and learn the benefits and advantages of having a code of ethics. Additionally, Junior Achievement recently updated the original "Excellence through Ethics" program, which is available online free of charge and provides age-appropriate lessons for students in grades 4- 12. "As the teens of today become the workforce of tomorrow, it is more important than ever that they learn how to make appropriate, ethical decisions. Our society relies on its members having a clear understanding that integrity and trust are the foundation of all human relationships." said Gerald M. Czarnecki, president and chief executive officer of JA Worldwide (Junior Achievement). "Thanks to Deloitte, JA provides age-appropriate ethics training for students in grades 4-12. These programs are usually delivered by a volunteer from the business community who can show young people the importance of ethical decision-making through experiential learning, role-modeling and dialogue. As a result, youth learn the importance of becoming productive, contributing members of the workforce, which strengthens businesses and builds communities." Business leaders agree. "It’s sobering when teens who say they are fully prepared to make ethical decisions on the job also say they need to cheat to fulfill their personal ambition, to plagiarize because they don’t have enough time, or to physically harm another because they’ve had an argument," said Ainar D. Aijala, Jr. Global Managing Partner, Consulting, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Chairman of JA Worldwide. "These indicators do not bode well for the coping strategies of society’s future workforce, so the Junior Achievement-Deloitte training in ethical decision-making is the best investment we could make." The survey also found that despite self-confidence in their own ethical behavior, teens take a pessimistic view of their peers. When asked to evaluate the behavior of a number of groups - business leaders, religious leaders, doctors, lawyers, police officers, teachers, professional athletes and fire fighters - teens ranked high school students second to last. In their view, only politicians are more unethical than they are. Ex-councilman in Far Hills gets 20 months in prison Courier News Online | 12/12/07 | Michael Deak NEWARK — A former Far Hills borough councilman was sentenced Tuesday to 20 months in federal prison for his role in a money-laundering scheme. Thomas A. Greenwald, 54, who now lives in Chatham Township, was ordered by U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons by Jan. 21 to begin serving the sentence. Under the plea agreement, Greenwald also will forfeit $25,900. Greenwald, who resigned from the council in 2005 two weeks before he was arrested, pleaded guilty May 10 to conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the IRS. The guilty plea arose from Operation Big Rig, the federal probe that has led to charges against more than 18 officials in Monmouth and Ocean counties over the past several years, including the convictions of the former mayors of Asbury Park, Ocean Township, West Long Branch, Brick Township, Hazlet and Keyport, as well as council members from Asbury Park, Neptune Township, Middletown and Long Branch. Greenwald, who formerly owned an oil-tank-removal business, admitted he was introduced to two people in November 2004 whom he believed were involved in loan-sharking and illegal gambling. The two really were undercover FBI agents, authorities said. Greenwald, who served on the planning board and was police commissioner on the council in Far Hills, met the two through Stephen Appolonia, co-owner of International Trucks of Central Jersey, who told Greenwald he could make a substantial amount of cash through laundering their funds. Appolonia and Greenwald were classmates and friends at Union High School. After meeting the undercover agents, Greenwald told Appolonia that he wanted to launder $700,000 in loan- sharking and gambling money for the two. Greenwald said he wanted to launder the money to create fraudulent business expenses for the oil-tank-removal business he had sold in late 2004 so he could reduce his income-tax bill. Greewald told the undercover agents to produce fraudulent invoices for construction and demolition work for Greenwald's business. In pleading guilty, Greenwald said the scheme would have resulted in defrauding the IRS of between $200,000 and $400,000 in taxes. Greenwald agreed Tuesday to forfeit $25,900 to the United States. That was the fee he had earned for laundering the cash provided by the undercover FBI agents. Greenwald started his oil-tank-removal business in Chatham as Greenwald Enterprises in 1974, after spending three years with the Kenilworth-based heating and cooling contractor Meyer & Depew Co. The company, which specialized in removing, cleaning and installing residential oil tanks, was incorporated in 1978, a year after Greenwald's wife, Gail Greenwald, joined the business. Greenwald changed the name of the company to Pro Tank Oil Tank Services in 1986 and moved it to the current location on Rahway River Parkway in Union Township, Union County. In an October 2004 financial report, the company listed three employees. Greenwald sold Pro Tank Oil Tank Services sometime before he and Stephen Appolonia approached undercover agents Nov. 11, 2004, according to a federal criminal complaint. Appolonia told the agents Greenwald wanted to launder $100,000 a week — more than $700,000 in total — to avoid paying taxes on the proceeds of the sale, the complaint alleges. Colchester town employee sentenced for embezzlement newsday.com | 12/7/07 | Norwich Bulletin A longtime Colchester town employee has been sentenced to two months in prison for stealing more than $40,000 from the town for gambling. Fifty-four-year-old Howard Daniels was sentenced Thursday to two months in prison by Judge Susan B. Handy in New London Superior Court. Police say Daniels was pocketing cash for several years while working as the gatekeeper of the town's transfer station. Prosecutors say Daniels and his wife ran up losses of $51,000 at Mohegan Sun between 2001 and 2006. Prosecutors recommended 15 months in prison. Howard Daniels already has made restitution of $41,000 to the town in part by taking a second mortgage on his home. Murrieta food worker arrested in embezzlement case nctimes.com | 12/7/07 | John Hall MURRIETA -- A longtime employee of the Murrieta Valley Unified School District has been arrested on suspicion of embezzling more than a quarter of a million dollars in cash from food services at Murrieta Valley High School, authorities said. Wilhelmina De Guzman Ignacio, 48, was arrested Thursday following investigations by both the school district and Murrieta police detectives. Ignacio had been employed by the district since 1995 before she resigned Nov. 8, said Karen Parris, spokeswoman for the district. In the position of kitchen lead at the high school, Ignacio oversaw 17 employees and was responsible for ordering food, the sales and preparation of food, and turning in daily cash receipts, Parris said. Her arrest was "very surprising and disappointing," Parris said. The spokeswoman said there are several processes in place to prevent thefts of food service money and that Ignacio "was very familiar with all of them." Murrieta police Detective Sgt. Jim Ganley said part of Ignacio's job was to take care of the money bags containing cash that were turned in each day. "The bags were supposed to all be sealed and locked, but many were not," Ganley said. "She noticed that, didn't report it and took advantage of it." According to the investigation, Ignacio removed cash from the bags and changed the dollar amount on paperwork with each bag so it didn't appear anything had been stolen, Ganley said. From April 2006 through last month, Ignacio was able to take an estimated $260,000 cash, the sergeant said. Ignacio was first interviewed by detectives early last month about the suspected thefts. Ganley said she admitted to taking the money and was cooperative with detectives. After detectives received some necessary financial documentation, Ignacio was brought back in and arrested Thursday, he said. Detectives believe Ignacio sent large portions of the money to relatives in the Philippines, used a substantial amount to gamble at area Indian casinos and paid some minor bills with the cash, Ganley said. Parris said the losses did not come from any of the students' pre-paid food accounts, only cash sales. "All of the students have continued to receive full value for their meals," Parris said. The district will be working hard to receive restitution for the loss, she said. Although the estimated $260,000 loss is a substantial amount, Parris said it has not affected the large $5.2 million annual budget for food services within the school district. "This is really quite a large operation," Parris said. Districtwide, about 2.3 million meals are served each year, with nearly 13,000 meals served each day at all schools, she said. Ignacio is being held in lieu of $500,000 bail at Larry D. Smith Correctional Facility, jail records state. She is scheduled to appear in court next week. Ex-Microsoft worker charged with fraud The Seattle Times |12/08/07 | Benjamin Romano A former Microsoft employee charged with defrauding the company to the tune of $1 million intends to plead not guilty, her attorney said Friday. Carolyn M. Gudmundson, a 44-year-old Kirkland woman, is charged with 11 counts of wire fraud and seven counts of mail fraud stemming from a complicated set of transactions she allegedly orchestrated to channel payment for Microsoft and Expedia Internet domain names to herself. She appeared Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle after being arrested at her home Thursday night. She was released on her own recognizance and is scheduled to appear for a formal arraignment next Thursday. A grand-jury indictment and a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office allege Gudmundson defrauded the companies in several ways: As a program manager in Microsoft's MSN Division, she used her Microsoft corporate American Express card to pay for the acquisition, registration and renewal of Internet domain names. She altered credit-card receipts to show she paid higher prices and used them to support "false and fraudulent amounts claimed on her reimbursement requests to Microsoft, " the U.S. Attorney's Office said. She also allegedly became an Expedia vendor and submitted invoices to that company, payable to herself, for domain-name registrations that had already been paid through an arrangement between Microsoft and Expedia. The indictment further alleges that Gudmundson requested Microsoft reimburse Marksman, a Glendale, Calif., company, for domain names it purchased on behalf of Microsoft. She then requested that Marksman send checks to a fictitious person named G. M. Lossman, who resided at the same address as Gudmundson's mother, according to court papers. The indictment states that the payments supposedly compensated for the transfer of domain names to Microsoft, many of which Microsoft already owned. Gudmundson requested that the payments from Marksman be sent to her at Microsoft so that she could deliver them to Lossman personally, according to the indictment. The indictment said checks and wire transfers were deposited to accounts held in Gudmundson's mother's name and her own. It lists 18 transactions, by wire and mail, between June 29, 2000, and Jan. 22, 2004. They ranged in value from $13,620 to $112,295 and totaled $797,362. Gudmundson, a Seattle native and Western Washington University graduate, disputes the charges and the amounts listed in the indictment, said her attorney, C. James Frush, who called it a "very complicated situation." "Many of the things that Mrs. Gudmundson was doing were in the normal part of her job and she was authorized to do them," Frush said in an interview outside the courtroom Friday. According to the indictment, her job responsibilities included maintaining Microsoft's domain-name registration and renewal program and working with the company's trademark group. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Crisham said the amounts are accurate. "I think that we can prove in the trial that the amount of loss to Microsoft was over $1 million," she said. Gudmundson worked at Microsoft from 1987 to 2004, when she resigned in connection with the fraud accusations, Frush said. She paid the company some $30,000, which she hoped would resolve the matter, he said. The case was brought to authorities' attention by Microsoft and the investigation by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service was long, Crisham said. In a statement, Microsoft said, "We take employee theft seriously and have internal measures in place to help identify fraudulent activities." T. Boone Pickens' son gets probation in fraud case reuters.com | 12/10/07 | Paritosh Bansal NEW YORK (Reuters) - A son of legendary oil investor T. Boone Pickens was sentenced to five years of probation on Monday and ordered to take part in a substance abuse program for orchestrating a fraud scheme that involved distributing fictitious stock tips to investors. Michael O. Pickens, 53, also was ordered to pay restitution of $1.2 million in connection with the fraud. Prosecutors said he enticed investors to buy shares of thinly traded companies by sending handwritten hoax faxes meant to make them think they had mistakenly received a hot stock tip. His billionaire father, who attended the sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, said he would pay the restitution. Michael Pickens has a history of substance abuse and already has spent 17 months at a treatment facility. "Because of Mike's courageous efforts in treatment and because I wanted to clear our family's name by making the victims whole, I have made full restitution on behalf of Mike," said T. Boone Pickens, head of the BP Capital hedge fund. "I am thankful that it has forced Mike to truly confront his demons for the first time in his life," he said. Michael Pickens pleaded guilty in October 2006 to securities fraud. According to a July 2005 indictment, he tried to illegally pump up share prices of small companies such as Infinium Labs Inc, which has since changed its name to Phantom Entertainment Inc. Prosecutors said he sent hundreds of thousands of hoax faxes meant for a fictitious "Dr. Mitchel" to investors around the United States. After the fake tips boosted trading volume and stock prices, he would sell his shares, netting more than $300,000 in illegal profit in the scheme, according to court papers. Pickens was ordered to report to a substance abuse program in Dallas next week. U.S. District Judge Loretta Preska cited his substance abuse problems in sparing him prison time. "This defendant started drinking when he was 13, started with marijuana at 15, prescription drugs thereafter, and that went on for the rest of his life," she said. At the hearing, Pickens apologized for his conduct and said he hoped to help others in their battles with substance abuse. ________________________ |
