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Introduction
This report focuses on two white-collar crimes (Tyco Scandal and Iran-Contra Affair). It describes these two crimes and provides analysis of consequences of crimes as well as theories and policies used to combat them.
A description of the history of the case, parties involved and socioeconomic status of the offenders
Iran-Contra Affair
This was a scandal of President Reagan administration. It started in 1985 and came to limelight in 1986. In this scandal, some of the key figures were Ronald Reagan, Oliver North, Robert McFarlane, John Poindexter, Contras, and Caspar Weinberger among other influential persons in Reagan administration.
This case started as an effort to “free seven American hostages in Iran under the custody of the Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution” (Shenon and Engelberg, 1987). The US supplied weapons to Israel, and then Israel sent the same weapons to Iran. The Iranian receivers then facilitated the release of hostages. People referred to this scandal as arms-for-hostages scheme. In 1985, Oliver North devised various ways to ensure that parts of the proceeds went to Contras in Nicaragua (Shenon and Engelberg, 1987).
Tyco Scandal
In 2005, the Court charged Kozlowski and Marc Swart on various counts of fraud and larceny. Charges involved misappropriation of Tyco’s funds amounting to $170 million and unauthorized bonuses. The two also secretly forgave loans to themselves. They also faced charges of making more than $430 million through lying and conspiring about the financial condition of the company and increasing the value of their stock. The CEO also faced charges of looting $150 million from Tyco (Siegel, 2011).
A description and definition of the crime(s) committed and the monies or resources that were defrauded
Tyco Scandal
The Court convicted these two figures with various counts such as unauthorized bonuses ($81 million), art purchase ($14.725 million), and payment of investment bank fees to Frank Welsh ($20 million). Shareholders lost over $90 billion in this scandal.
The company engaged in questionable accounting practices in order to favor Kozlowski. The CEO used Tyco’s resources to fund his lavish lifestyle.
Iran-Contra Affair
Though details of this scandal remained scanty because Oliver North and his associates destroyed some records, some reports revealed that Iran received $30 million to transfer to Contras.
Reagan supported Contras. However, there were disputes whether Reagan allowed diversion of monies from arms sales to fund Contras. Human Rights Watch indicated that Contras engaged in a systematic abuse of human rights. The Boland Amendment made funding to Contra illegal. Consequently, Reagan administration engaged in secret deals with Iran and secretly trained and armed Contras.
Definitions of the law(s) violated
Tyco Scandal
This scandal involved embezzlement of resources and monies from a public company. The company also engaged in questionable accounting practices. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a lawsuit based on the failure the company to disclose forgiven loans of the CEO. The Court charged the CEO and CFO with 22 counts of fraud.
The Court also charged Kozlowski with a tax evasion of over $1 million arising from art purchases.
Iran-Contra Affair
This scandal violated the Boland Amendment, which had made support to Contras illegal.
Some of the charges included obstructing justice, conspiracy, deceiving the Congress, destroying, and changing evidence relevant to the investigation.
Penalties imposed upon the guilty parties in these crimes
Iran-Contra Affair
There were several investigations by the US Congress and the Tower Commission. None of these investigations found any evidence to link Reagan with the Iran-Contra Affair.
There were 14 indictments of administration officials. There were also 11 convictions. However, the Court dismissed some of these convictions on appeals. Finally, George Bush pardoned all indicted or convicted officials before leaving office. Bush was the Vice President during the Affair. Therefore, there was no imprisonment because of the scandal. This is not a typical way of handling frauds. In other words, there was no justice served in this case.
Tyco Scandal
The CEO and CFO faced 22 counts of fraud and received sentences of up to 25 years as well as fines and compensation orders that totaled to $240 million. Their charges also included securities fraud, falsifying business records, larceny, and conspiracy. However, punishments of such cases depend on their severity and intent of the offender.
Policies in place to combat this type of crime
Tyco Scandal
Key policies to combat corporate scandals are in corporate governance principles of the company. However, it was clear that the CEO, who also served as the chairperson of the board, had power over directors of the board.
Based increasing cases of financial scandals in large organizations, it is imperative for organizations to bring into line their corporate governance principles with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and Dodd-Frank Act of 2010.
These Acts protect shareholders against uncontrolled excesses and embezzlement of funds by CEOs and other senior executives. The Acts strive to create independent boards, which are not prone to external interference. There are also SEC requirements and NASDAQ provisions as policies to combat corporate fraud.
Iran-Contra Affair
The US has a policy of no concession and negotiation with terrorists. By agreeing to trade arms in order to secure freedom of the hostages, the US went against this principle.
The Boland Amendment made such assistance to Contras illegal. However, senior people in the administration of Reagan violated this amendment through secret deals.
The financial impact resulting from the crime
Tyco Scandal
According to Neumann, Tyco had “$28 billion in debt, and its shareholders had lost over $90 billion, more than 80 percent of Tyco’s peak market value by 2002” (Neumann, 2011).
Iran Contra Affair
The details of this scandal remained scanty even during the inquiry. However, Howard Zinn referred to some $30 million as the amount of money Iran received to send to Contras (Zinn, 2003).
An analysis on the punishment of white-collar criminals
Iran-Contra Affair
In this case, indictments and convictions did not serve their purposes. This is because the Court dropped most cases on subsequent appeals. Still, George Bush pardoned all convicts during his last term in office.
Tyco Scandal
This is a benchmark punishment for senior executives involved in embezzlement of companies’ resources and funds. The two convicts got up to 25 years with fines and compensation orders amounting to $240 million.
The difference between white-collar crime and other traditional types of crimes
Unlike traditional crimes, white-collar crimes are complex and involve the use of legitimate enterprises in order to gain illegal profits or provide criminal activities. Some of these activities are so complex that they take several years to solve even after their discoveries.
Siegel notes that white-collar crimes result from rationalization of offenders. They can engage in criminal activities without compromising their values and meet their personal financial problems. Another theory is the corporate culture view, which argues that enterprises exert excessive demands on employees and tolerate deviance of employees as new employees learn techniques of committing crimes. Finally, self-control view posits that such criminals have low self-control and do not consider long-term consequences of their activities (Siegel, 2011).
Impacts of the research on the importance of ethical and professional behavior in the workplace
This research demonstrates that white-collar crimes do not pay. On the other hand, maintaining professional behavior grows the business for its stakeholders and sets high standards in the organization. It also shows that people engaging in white-collar crimes destroy their careers and organizations.
References
Neumann, C. (2011). Tyco International scandal: History of Business in the U.S. Web.
Shenon, P. and Engelberg, S. (1987). Eight Important Days in November: Unraveling the Iran-Contra Affair. Web.
Siegel, L. J. (2011). Criminology: The Core (4th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
Zinn, H. (2003). A People’s History of the United States. New York: Perennial.
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