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Poor Bernie - Poorer Uncle Sam

by Ailish M. Nic Phaidin
Brevard Technical Journal

It looks as if even convicted, thieving former WorldCom CEO Bernie Ebbers’ accountants and attorneys don’t know his true financial worth. They do know where he’s headed, though. So do we, and so does the federal government.

Poor Bernie’s poor wife, Kristie, knows all these things. She also knows that U.S. District Court Judge Barbara Jones has deemed it appropriate to strip the Ebbers of almost all their treasure to help repay the around $11 billion that was “taken” from the coffers of WorldCom prior to 2002, partially reimbursing the hapless losers in the debacle. Judge Jones has apparently adjudicated that Kristie Ebbers should be left with $50,000 and a modest house in Jackson, Mississippi. That should soften a few coughs in the corporate lack-of-governance boardrooms that have taken the savings and hopes of too many innocent, if sometimes naïve, investors. 

The final word on poor Bernie should go to Judge Jones, when she said during the sentencing phase of the trial, “I find that a sentence of anything less would not reflect the seriousness of this crime.” She had just given poor Bernie 25 years in prison after a jury found him guilty of fraud and conspiracy.

How will Uncle Sam recoup the losses that such hardened criminals hide and squander? Probably with huge difficulty, with many man (and woman) hours, and then, probably only a small percentage of what is owed. These are, however, fairly short-term losses for the government and for the nation.

The amount of money that has been lost, and continues to be lost to the government coffers and the nation through another corporate lack-of-governance – not to mention accountability and compliance scandal – is still very much under the radar of the general population.

That scandal is in the area of export controls.

For the uninitiated, basically, the U.S. government has, over many years, formulated regulations to protect our national security and the interests of our corporate sector. These regulations guard against countries acquiring our technologies that could come back, quite literally, to bite us in the bum; and also to protect our corporate sector against our overseas competitors. This, somewhat simplified, dual role means protecting our nation and protecting our jobs. Both are worth protecting.

We have lost millions of jobs to several regions in the world through what is euphemistically called “out-sourcing.” I simply call it, in most cases, a lack of long-term foresight. However, maybe the foresight is only lacking on the part of the fewer and fewer U.S. workers that such companies are employing. 
I recognize that profit is the critical motivator for all corporations. I also recognize that the quarterly earnings reports are difficult – and frequently dangerous – feeding troughs for the oft-times frenzied media. I question corporate decision makers who – mostly for expedience and short-term gain – cook their books and/or move most of their jobs overseas. I also question corporate decision makers who, for whatever reason(s), are moving closer to the edge of leaving our nation – which has supported their rise and rise – bereft of a means to raise funds in the long-term to sustain the development of our economy and our national security.
The corporate boardrooms are awash with members who apparently care little about our national interests. Those who export controlled items to overseas countries and entities without the proper export licenses are making our nation more vulnerable, in national security terms, to the manufacture of such items, and the potential integration of such items into further technologies, by nations who are sometimes not just our competitors, but also our enemies. 

Our intellectual rights are not just diminished when such technologies are exported without a license; they are frequently lost forever because we are often not in a position to compete with say, S.E. Asian manufacturers. The cycle of job loss will continues as will the brain-drain of our best and brightest young scientists and engineers who will follow the jobs trail wherever it leads. 

Technology is the corner-stone of our economy and our future. It is worth protecting and it must be protected. 

There is an ethical and moral ambiguity in the way some companies in our nation behave. The hoards of federal government enforcement and compliance officers digging in trash bins, land-fill sites, and under the grubby rugs of corporate offices in the name of salvaging our one true advantage in the global war on terror and sustainable economic development into the 21st century would be quite unnecessary if a few people with knowledge of law breaking would make a phone call to, for example, the DDTC. 

This region of Florida is awash with exporters who require export licenses. The key to compliance is knowledge and knowledge only comes with education. Remember, ignorance of the law is at best a dubious defense, and at worst, a long prison sentence – ask poor Bernie. Uncle Sam is poorer because of non-compliant companies, and that means we are all poorer. 

The federal government has for the past five years sent its best and brightest export controls and compliance experts every spring to the 3-day “Partnering for Compliance” conference in Orlando organized by Partnerships International, Inc. and the Orlando Air Cargo Association – two non-profit organizations. The sixth such conference will be on February 27th & 28th, and March 1st, 2006 at UCF, Orlando. Call 321-952-2978 for details.

Knowledgeable practical pragmatism and ethical trading are is far superior to any Ebbers defense, both in a court of law and in the court of public opinion.



Ailish M. Nic Phaidin, MPRII©, President & CEO Access Link International, Inc.
Public Relations & Marketing Counselors
Phone: 321-952-2978; Email: Ailish@AccessLinkInternational.com