At my bank Board meeting last week, the Chairman grimly announced that fraud has increased significantly from the previous year.
“It’s the economy,” everyone said, nodding their heads as if that one word packed a Bernake speech’s worth of explanation.
I suppose that when under financial stress, some may be tempted towards unseemly conduct that they might not otherwise consider, especially if their job involves handling money: a teller, for instance; or a cashier. Or the CFO.
Speaking of which, later that same week, a friend revealed that his company discovered its long-time CFO had embezzled hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Scandalous!
Not really, though, because this was like the thousandth time I’ve heard that story, especially coming from smaller, privately-held companies which are more vulnerable, since they don’t always have the appropriate fortress of auditing checks and balances to monitor these things.
Judging from the daily business news, though, it appears epidemic. Fraud, embezzlement, inside trading – there’s a plentiful stream of bad behavior feeding the media. You’d think the public shaming of people getting caught red-handed and sent to jail would deter those with any inclination to do the same. But human nature is fairly consistent: an unfettered combination of greed, self-justification and the delusion of not getting caught.
And don’t think you are exempt either, my dear Christian friend with a fish bumper sticker flashing from your car and a cross dangling from your weathered neckline. Christian organizations are equally subject to these wayward shenanigans.
