There is no arguing or denying the fact that the election of Barack Obama in 2008 changed the face of American politics. However, this is not a political science paper and, unlike the Bush/Gore race of 2000, the Obama/McCain election night passed by with relatively little scandal. So why is it worth mentioning in a paper about corruption? Although no actual fault can be attached to the newly-elected President of the United States, Obama’s election set the stage for one of the most public political corruption cases since the Nixon/Watergate Scandal in the 1970s. This case centered on the activities of the then-Governor of Illinois, Rob Blagojevich.
In 2011, Blagojevich was sentenced to fourteen years in prison after being convicted of seventeen felony counts of corruption, related to three main schemes. These schemes are referred to by various Chicago newspapers as the “Senate Seat” scheme, which accounted for nine of his seventeen charges, the “Children’s Hospital Scheme” and the “Raceway Executive” scheme, for each of which he was found guilty on three separate counts (Turner, 2011, p. 1-4).
To provide some background on the man himself, Rod Blagojevich was first elected Governor of Illinois in 2003, after serving quite honorably and with some distinction in the fifth district of the U.S House of Representatives and the thirty-third district in the Illinois House of Representatives (Ballotpedia, 2014, p.2-3). He was considered by many to be a hopeful presidential candidate in a future race for the big leagues. These hopes were obviously dashed when his corrupt activities came to light.
We will begin with an analysis of the most notorious of the three schemes, the Senate Seat scheme. President Obama’s election left an open seat ...
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What is FRAUD? Definition of FRAUD (Black's Law Dictionary). (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2014, from http://thelawdictionary.org/fraud/
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Financial statement fraud makes up a marginal (less than 10%) percentage of occupational fraud cases, but the median loss is significantly higher at $975,000. A fraud scheme occurring over a significant amount of time will likely result in much higher median losses. For example, a fraud scheme lasting more than five years could result in median losses of $850,000. Larger companies are more likely able to implement strong anti-fraud controls due to size and finances, therefore, smaller companies become more susceptible to fraud schemes due to lack of proper preventive controls. Preventive controls include: implementing internal controls, continually updating the company’s Code of Conduct, rotating jobs/duties, and
“Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it’s set a rolling it must increase (Charles Caleb Colton).” Colton describes that once corruption has begun, it is difficult to stop. Corruption has existed in this country, let alone this very planet, since the beginning of time. With corruption involves: money, power, and favoritism. Many people argue today that racism is still a major problem to overcome in today’s legal system. American author (and local Chicago resident) Steve Bogira jumps into the center of the United States justice system and tells the story of what happens in a typical year for the Cook Country Criminal Courthouse, which has been noted as one of the most hectic and busiest felony courthouses in the entire country. After getting permission from one of the courthouse judges’ (Judge Locallo) he was allowed to venture in and get eyewitness accounts of what the American Legal System is and how it operates. Not only did he get access to the courtroom but: Locallo’s chambers, staff, even his own home. In this book we get to read first hand account of how America handles issues like: how money and power play in the court, the favoritism towards certain ethnic groups, and the façade that has to be put on by both the defendants and Cook County Workers,
To conclude Jack Abramoff was a notorious lobbyist who was sent to prison for abuse
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The term “fraud” is commonly used to describe the use of deception to deprive, disadvantage or cause loss to another person or party. This can include theft, the misuse of funds or other resources, or more complicated crimes such as false accounting and the supply of false information. This case study of Mountain State Sporting Goods is an excellent example of individuals acting on the opportunity to financial benefit by committing what they thought was harmless adjustments, but in reality was fraud. In this case study there are is just so much wrong with this company and how it operates. We noticed multiple areas of concern before even seeing the financial statements and my concerns were confirmed upon further investigation.
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In the beginning, before Obama was president he was the senator of Illinois. While he was senator he helped promote state income tax credit which helped the poor, he helped with young
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