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I like to look at these things from the other side. Say you're a high-level politician and/or civil servant and want to find a way for somebody to pay you off f

by ufmace 10y ago

I like to look at these things from the other side. Say you're a high-level politician and/or civil servant and want to find a way for somebody to pay you off for granting them political favors. What would you do? Paid speeches sound great. Hire a speechwriter for a few thousand bucks, then you just go and give it to them and collect your fee. That fee can be whatever you want, because who can say what a speech is really worth? Beats the pants off of running a charity for your benefactors to donate to, where it has to at least look like a decent amount of the money is going to some worthy cause. You can do whatever you feel like with your speaking fees. Your benefactors don't get to write off their payoffs as charitable donations, but that's hardly your problem. I can't prove that that's how it happened, of course. But isn't that part of the appeal of the scheme? Who could ever prove that it was or wasn't a payoff in disguise? It's like the conflict of interest thing. It's best to just not do it, as least while you're active in government and have the ability to subtly grant favors. Even if it's completely fair, standard, and on the level, it still looks dirty, you can never satisfactorily prove that it isn't dirty, and you waste a ton of time arguing about it, which just serves to cement in peoples' minds the notion that you are dirty.

AJ007 10y ago
Some people go to great lengths to try to avoid something that would even appear to be a conflict of interest. Others couldn't even be bothered to cross the street if it inconvenienced them. Here are some things that could be investigated, probably the same way one would use data science for fraud detection: - Compile a broad database of speakers, fees they received, when it happened - Find a way to rate speakers based on their public visibility. In other words, who attracts an audience more than someone else. Conceivably, the value of a "Speaker" is to get people to show up to your event and pay to be there. - Create a network database of relationships of speakers and family members. - Start looking for anomalies related to outsized speaking fees and changes when a family member is or is not holding a public office. - From that, investigators would need to start looking in to the details of who may have done what for who Despite what is read in the press, Western countries are moving hard against public corruption and perceived corruption and have since the post-9/11 anti-money laundering changes.

by ufmace 10y ago

AJ007 10y ago

Some people go to great lengths to try to avoid something that would even appear to be a conflict of interest. Others couldn't even be bothered to cross the street if it inconvenienced them. Here are some things that could be investigated, probably the same way one would use data science for fraud detection: - Compile a broad database of speakers, fees they received, when it happened - Find a way to rate speakers based on their public visibility. In other words, who attracts an audience more than someone else. Conceivably, the value of a "Speaker" is to get people to show up to your event and pay to be there. - Create a network database of relationships of speakers and family members. - Start looking for anomalies related to outsized speaking fees and changes when a family member is or is not holding a public office. - From that, investigators would need to start looking in to the details of who may have done what for who Despite what is read in the press, Western countries are moving hard against public corruption and perceived corruption and have since the post-9/11 anti-money laundering changes.