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| [Depiction of Cash from wikipedia] |
Recently, I started a series of posts in which I describe
examples of kickbacks which were paid in major fraud cases I saw as a former
federal prosecutor. Currently, I am a criminal defense lawyer in Augusta,
Georgia, where I practice law with my sons, but I handled a number of
significant white collar criminal cases as an Assistant U.S. Attorney for over
20 years.
In one major "honest
services" mail fraud case, the defendant construction company paid a total
of $2.7 million in kickback payments to an employee of another company, in
exchange for being awarded profitable construction contracts by the other
company's employee.
One example of the many kickbacks, or rewards, paid in this case included payments for the other company's employee to purchase TWO vacation homes. In short, the construction company paid money toward his purchase of an $800,000 log cabin at a Minnesota lake and another $150,000 for the employee to purchase a condo at an exclusive winter ski resort in Whistler, British Columbia.
Of course, in return, the employee of the other company "scratched the back" of the construction company president by approving millions of dollars in construction projects.
As you can see, sometimes white collar crime pays pretty good; that is, until, like these defendants, you get caught!
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