Yep, it sounds like a conspiracy to me as well. :) The one thing that I have learned about corruption is that at least small instances of it occur everywhere,

Yep, it sounds like a conspiracy to me as well. :) The one thing that I have learned about corruption is that at least small instances of it occur everywhere, even if its not "the norm." Wherever there is way to make money, people might very well be doing it. And yes you are right although I tried to imply that shareholders were the ones being screwed - this is obviously unfair to shareholders, whether the transaction is corrupt or not.