Bribery

Ok. Let’s be clear here. Right up front. No doubts. No debates. No excuses.

I’m Nora and I’ll tell it to you straight. Right in your face. No matter what others tell you. No matter what reasons or excuses you hear. No matter who offers it. Bribery is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

I know what you might say, or think or want to believe. That maybe if it’s out of the USA, or outside of the UK or outside of Singapore, it’s OK.

You might say, “It’s just a little extra, is all.”

Or you might say, “Everybody here does it.”

Or you might believe that “nobody gets hurt.”

Well, here I am. A highly trained, widely experienced, dedicated compliance professional. And I tell you this – breaking laws is never the way to go. It’s not good for whoever breaks the law or whoever claims it’s OK or whatever company is involved.

Corruption hurts everyone it touches.

Consider if you are subject to American jurisdiction – we have a law. Take a good long hard look at it. The FCPA. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Our country, the USA, made it into law. No matter where a company with US ties does business, that law governs all of us. And that law can be used to punish you even many years after you pay a bribe. And here’s some more news. Any country you can think of, they also have their own laws that bribing their people is a crime. There is no place on this planet for bribes.

Ok. Yes. I realize we are all human. We are all sometimes vulnerable, perhaps tempted, perhaps wanting to go along with something that seems OK. Perhaps everybody else does it. Perhaps nobody seems to care – it seems like such a small thing.

But wrong is still wrong.

Even if “everybody else does it,” that doesn’t make it right. Even if it’s an expected practice, that doesn’t make it right. Even if someone really needs the extra income, that doesn’t make it right.

A small bribe is still a bribe.

A small lie is still a lie.

A small act of corruption is still corruption.

Plus, we need to always keep in mind, that what might seem OK at first can get bigger without warning. Cheating hurts others. Lying hurts others. Breaking laws hurts others.

There are people everywhere who take advantage of others. People who offer bribes and people who accept those bribes. And there are people who get hurt in the process.

Bribes can be part of a contractor taking cash while cutting corners, skipping safety rules, causing potential risks for others.

Bribes can be part of using money for payoffs and not using that money for citizens where it was meant to go.

Bribes can be part of skipping rules that must never be skipped. Bribes can mean honest, hard-working contractors lose important business to corrupt competitors that grease palms.

Bribes are corruption. Bribes are against the law – everywhere. Bribes do hurt people in many ways.

Bribery and corruption are bad.

No excuses. No lies. No selfish choices.

So, here we are. Perhaps in a culture where bribery thrives. Perhaps in a place where they say “everybody does it.” Perhaps in a place where it is accepted.

Hurting people by taking money that’s meant to help those who are poor and hopeless is wrong. Cheating, lying and breaking laws is wrong.

Let’s all be decent here. Let’s be honest with ourselves. Let’s admit that wrong is now and always will be wrong.

© 2024 K. Leet

What do you think?

Is it ever OK to accept a bribe?

Is bribery hurting others?

How can bribery hurt someone?

These are stories (usually fictional, but not always), based on insights and experiences from the world of compliance & ethics.