Crime is of two kinds. Black collar crime includes everything from an attempt to rob your home to a gruesome[groo-sum(horrific,वीभत्स)] murder. Black collar crime is pursued vigorously[vi-gu-rus-lee(smartly,जोशीले ढंग से)] and punishment meted out[meet awt(give,देना)].
When it comes to white collar crimes, society is very indulgent[in'dúl-junt(favourable,lenient,कृपालु)]. An ecosystem has been built that actually encourages white collar crime. Very few of these crimes are actually punished and when they are, the punishment is marginal. The criminal continues to be a full citizen of society and life goes on uninterrupted.
Who Cheats and How by Robin Banerjee is probably the first compendium of crimes committed by over 500 big corporations, that has been published in India.
Most of the cases covered and/or mentioned are of recent vintage and contemporary. Companies that feature in this book are fancied companies in the stock markets. Which brings us to the other side: In their pursuit of money, investors do not seem to care about sullied[sú-lee(corrupt,भ्रस्ट)] reputations.
Robin Banerjee has worked in big corporations in India and overseas, such as Hindustan Unilever, Arcelor Mittal, Thomas Cook, Essar Steel, and Suzlon. He has also won awards, including the Business Today award for Best CFO. His qualifications and experience come through in the way he has stitched together a wide range of corporate shenanigans[shu'na-ni-gun(trickery,छल कपट)].
The author splits the ‘crimes’ into different sections: frauds done for personal enrichment, frauds done to please the capital markets and ensure personal enrichment through stock price movements, frauds that involve outright theft, falsification of books, and so on. The author has also included examples of product-related fraud such as the use of animal fats by McDonalds in french fries; Pfizer paying fines for illegal marketing of drugs; drug companies falsifying test reports; and so on.
At one place, the author quotes a Russian proverb: “It is not for the stealing that you are punished, but for getting caught.” This is a telling comment on our legal system, where there is always a benefit of doubt factor before anyone is prosecuted.
There is a chapter on cybercrime that should be of interest to everyone. From Facebook to Google, there is criminal intent behind invasion of privacy, data capture, etc. There are so many crimes that happen in broad daylight.
Unfortunately, they are not policed and even if a Google or FB is caught, what follows is merely a rap on the knuckles, while the fingers continue to dip into others’ pockets. Data theft, impersonation and other new frontiers in criminal intent are emerging. The internet is the domain from which entire cities can be shut down by hackers.
We all talk about privacy, but we do not even realise that the moment we log on (which is like 24/7 for many individuals), we are being robbed or our privacy is being compromised.
Since corporate theft appears to have taken root, maybe keeping a copy of this book in corporate cabins will keep your eyes open. And yes, sometimes, as the writer says, crime can even be concealment of today’s income in a metaphorical[me-tu'fó-ri-kul(figurative,लाक्षणिक)] cookie jar.
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