1) We know that many companies do business around the world, and may encounter many different cultures, norms, and legal structures as a result

1) We know that many companies do business around the world, and may encounter many different cultures, norms, and legal structures as a result. How should a company conduct itself when foreign laws and/or norms are different than U.S. laws? For example, bribery may be an acceptable business practice in some countries, even though it is illegal here in the U.S. How do you think this type of situation should be handled?

2.Monday – Kick off Topic 2: Kickback Schemes

Class….. Let me get us started:

Kickback schemes – consist of undisclosed payments made by vendors to employees of purchasing companies.

• involve collusion between employees and vendors
• almost always attack the purchasing function of the victim company

1. Diverting business to vendors – Most bribery schemes end up as overbilling schemes even if they do not start that way, because once a vendor knows it has an exclusive purchasing arrangement, it ultimately will raise prices to cover the cost of the kickback.

QUESTION 1: Offering a payment can constitute a bribe, even if the illegal payment is never actually made. Why?

I look forward to everyone’s active participation this week!

Make sure that you cite your references and use quotations if necessary. Try to paraphrase as much as you can.

3.Tuesday – Overbilling Schemes

Class….. Great topic this week to get us started.

Overbilling schemes

1. Employees with approval authority – the ability to authorize purchases is key to a kickback scheme
2. Fraudsters lacking approval authority – need to be able to circumvent accounts payable controls
3. filing a false purchase requisition
4. preparing false vouchers
5. creating a purchase order that corresponds to the vendor’s fraudulent invoice

QUESTION 1: What is the common ingredient shared by the four classifications of corruption?

QUESTION 2: What is the difference ­between official bribery and commercial bribery?