Page 97 - Carbon Frauds and Corruption

Corruption of Bribery

Chapter 6 : Corruption in the “Carbon World”

In January 2011 three executives of the company were dismissed for what was described as “actions contrary to
the company’s ethics…. knowingly and deliberately placing the company’s assets at risk….. industrial espionage,
corruption and breach of trust”.

The investigation started in August 2010, following receipt of supposedly anonymous information involving
Chinese car makers and payments into Swiss and Liechtenstein bank accounts. The French Industry Minister,
Eric Besson, described the case as “economic war” and urged French companies to tighten security, stating that
the only advantage Western companies have over their low labour cost foreign competitors was technology.

However, the announcement was premature and an official investigation led to the reinstatement of the
executives, an admission that €310,000 (£268,000) had been paid for false information with a further €390,000
more to follow, and the placing of a security manager under investigation for suspected fraud.

Despite the unexpected outcome, the case illustrates two points. The first is the vulnerability of
proprietary information and the second the absolute requirement to handle internal
investigations very carefully.

19 THE CSR AND CARBON WORLD

The European Union defines CSR as:

“a concept... to integrate social and environmental concerns into business operations on a voluntary
basis”

For many companies the CSR effort is far from “voluntary” and more a headlong rush to
“greenwash” their competitors and to appeal to gullibles who believe spending two pounds in
Tescos rather than Waitrose – or vice versa ‐ will save the planet.

A frantic enthusiasm is rooted in some CSR programs. For example the massive electricity supplier‐ nPower‐ has
a program referred to as "Climate Cops" which both directly and through schools encourages children to snoop,
record and report on environmentally improper behaviour by their parents and friends. The campaign encourages
rug rats to download colourful “crime cards”, which have space to record their parents’ transgressions. Kids issue
“tickets” and report back to their teachers. They are also provided with James Bond type assignments –like
rummaging through their dads’ golf bags to find the odd dog end. If they pass they qualify for membership of an
elite Academy. Doesn’t that make you feel good?

CSR programs are part of the bigger “Carbon World” picture and are proving massively profitable
for an array of vendors, consultants, non‐governmental and charity organisations and operators
many looking for, and getting, windfall profits or grants so long as the global warming scare is
maintained

CRS programs are important from a risk perspective because they:

 Involve “noble cause”, subjective decisions and high costs that are difficult to validate
 Create artificial procurement needs and selection criteria
 Are exposed to false reporting, “greenwash” and possibly consumer deception

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