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Adelphia: Lying, Cheating, and Stealing

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Lying, Cheating and Stealing Lying, Cheating and Stealing

White collar crime is not a victimless crime. People’s lives can be ruined through the loss of a job, loss of savings and loss of assets. It is hard to not hear about white collar crime when looking at news. While not a justification for illegal actions, pressure is very high for companies to perform well and show growth. This pressure can lead people to commit crimes to falsify results or to enrich themselves. Laws and regulation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley have been implemented to provide greater transparency and accountability. However, the crime has become more sophisticated and complex. Many examples of such crimes involve greed and feelings of entitlement. One such …show more content…

Another son, Michael, only got 10 months under house arrest. In 2008, John and Timothy Rigas were back in appeals court, where one of their 23 fraud sentences was thrown out. Their lawyer argued that their prison terms were unfair. Rigas, 86, had his sentence dropped to 12 years.
I find it very interesting that white collar criminal punishment, many incidents involve vast sums of money, seem to get small punishment. Mr. Rigas only was sentenced to 12 years in prison. However, I do think that laws, and the application of those laws, should always be consistent. If someone is unhappy about a law then they should try to change the law. It is possible that if laws and punishment was more severe perhaps less white collar crime would be committed.
I think the punishment in the Rigas case was fair. While it may seem light, the law was followed. The Rigas family no longer owns Adelphia and they are serving time in prison. At Mr. Rigas’ age it could very well be a life sentence. One ethical issue that comes to mind is the money John Rigas took from the company to support a lavish lifestyle. All the while he was concealing a huge amount of debt. This fraud cost investors a great deal of money when the share price completely collapsed (from $67 to 15 cents). While the crime is not violent, it caused a great deal of harm to people that lost the money involved.
I feel that punishment for white collar crime will be

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