Corruption in the Twenty-First Century: Combating Unethical Practices in Government, Commerce, and Society

By Vincent E. Green

For many people, corruption is a sound bite on the evening news. The reality is that corruption is more akin to a parasite, slowly drawing the lifeblood from a society.

In Corruption in the Twenty-First Century, author Vincent E. Green shares firsthand insight into the effects of corruption and shows how it is not a victimless crime. Greensomeone who has fought corruption in New York City for more than thirty years and used the lessons he learned there internationallyhere provides a history of corruption and its widespread effects. He explains how it occurs, what an investigation should look like, why we should care, and what strategies and tools can be implemented to defeat it. He discusses various corruption cases and describes how the perpetrators were brought to justice. He also details corruptions negative impact on both the present and the future.

Designed to educate, train, and empower, Corruption in the Twenty-First Century arms people with the knowledge necessary to put a stop to corruption, defeat those who prey upon the good works of government, and help those resolved to work for the good of the people.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475964103

Vincent E. Green

Vincent E. Green earned a master’s degree in public administration and urban studies from Brooklyn College in 1988. He has been an integral part of New York City’s efforts to combat corruption for more than thirty years and has provided anticorruption training to more than seventy-five countries, including Tanzania, Georgia, Liberia, Haiti, Angola, Colombia, Montenegro, South Korea and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

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Copyright © 2013 Vincent E. Green.

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ISBN: 978-1-4759-6408-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6409-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4759-6410-3 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012922315

iUniverse rev. date: 01/14/2013

Contents

Foreword

Preface

Acknowledgments

Editorial Thanks

Introduction

Section1: History Is for Reflection, N ot Resurrection 1:

Chapter 1 Standing in the Gap

Chapter 2 DOI and I

Section 2: Mold Me

Chapter 3 Nothing Happens in a Vacuum

Chapter 4 The Ground-Zero Experience

Chapter 5 The Logical Path

Chapter 6 One Man Can Make a Difference

Chapter 7 One Size Does Not Fit All

Section 3: Picking Up the Gauntlet

Chapter 8 Our World, and Welcome to It

Chapter 9 A Well-Regulated Corruption-Fighting Agency Shall Not Be Infringed Upon

Chapter 10 Scurvy Elephants

Section 4: Caveat Emptor

Chapter 11 If You Build It, They Will Come

Chapter 12 Procurement 101

Chapter 13 Pirates Need Not Apply

Chapter 14 Who Rigged the Bids?

Section 5: Let’s Get Ready to Rumble

Chapter 15 Shooting from the Lip

Chapter 16 Someone to Watch Over

Chapter 17 Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Chapter 18 Strength Is Power; Wisdom Is Control

Chapter 19 Carpe Diem!

Bibliography

Endnotes

Also by Vincent E. Green:

An Approach to Investigating Corruption in Government, In: Government Ethics and Law Enforcement: Toward Global Guidelines, edited by Yassin El-Ayouty, Kevin J. Ford, and Mark Davies

The New York City Department of Investigation: Keeping an Eye out for Fraud in the Procurement of Goods and Services (coauthored with Steven A. Pasichow), In: Government Ethics and Law Enforcement: Toward Global Guidelines, edited by Yassin El-Ayouty, Kevin J. Ford, and Mark Davies

Vendor Integrity: Online Research, (coauthored with H. Tina Kim), In: American Institute of Certified Public Accountants: Government Brief, edited by H. Tina Kim

A dedication is not merely a formality; it is decidedly a reality of the writing process. It is recognition by the author that he does not stand alone. It should not be taken lightly or bestowed upon the undeserved. There are few writers who can make the claim that they go through the writing process all alone. The writer gets the credit, but there are unsung heroes in the background who inspire the process.

I dedicate these words to my wife, Minister Fannie Green, who endured the birthing process of Corruption in the Twenty-First Century and the roller-coaster ride that it became as I maneuvered through what seemed like endless drafts of what you are about to read.

I also dedicate this work to my collective heroes and personal cheering section, my children—Roosevelt, Donna, Doris, Roggie, and Erika—and grandchildren—Brandon, Dominique, Dante, and Christian—all of whom never hesitated to lend their support or tell me when they thought that a particular chapter thoroughly sucked! Without a doubt, my professional positions and titles carried no weight with them. They have kept me grounded through the years by happily reminding me of the difference between boss and dad.

I’d like to extend a special thank-you to Isaac and Hanna, my double dose of morning sunshine.

Far too many of us plan for the positive, but are intent on walking in the negative.

Vincent E. Green

Foreword

By Ambassador Pamela A. White, US Ambassador to Haiti

I have worked in the developing world for the past forty years. I started as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1971 in a small village in Cameroun. Over my long career, I have noted that many countries do not progress as quickly as the United States government (or I) thinks they should. I believe the number-one reason for this is poor governance, which goes hand in hand with corruption.

Let me quote the UN Secretary General: Last year, corruption prevented 30 percent of all development assistance from reaching its final destination. This translates into bridges, hospitals, and schools that were never built, and people living without the benefit of these services, Mr. Ban said. This is a failure of accountability and transparency. We cannot let it persist. If we cannot get a handle on corruption, I strongly believe we will spend the next decade without seeing significant development results. It does not matter the goodwill of the populace or dynamic people on the ground or the great determination of the United States government to improve the lives of poor people around the globe. If we continue to turn a blind eye to corrupt governments, we will continue to have suboptimal results.

Anticorruption commissions around the world need to be fully funded and given adequate technical support and salaries that reflect their responsibility to their nations. I truly believe there is no one development objective more important than supporting anticorruption efforts and holding nations accountable for reigning in corruption. There must be some negative sanctions against governments that continue to find widespread corruption acceptable. On the other hand, governments who do attack corruption should be rewarded accordingly.

Preface

The good thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.

Abraham Lincoln¹

Many may find Corruption in the Twenty-First Century to be the greatest story ever told. I say this because these words are not intended to lecture but to minister to those who have an ear to hear, and to share with those who have a receptive spirit. People do not normally pass on lectures from generation to generation, but they will routinely pass on stories, with the intent for those stories to take root, nourish new ideas, and nurture values for a community and a nation. In many respects, stories are the lifeblood of a society; they can be life-changing. What you are about to share in will be just that—life-changing.

This sharing effort comes from the heart of a warrior and the soul of a soldier walking in faith and knowing that just the striking of one match can cast out darkness. Let this work strike a bright light upon the dark fatigue of despair created by corruption and visited upon far too many people in far too many nations.

It has been my esteemed fortune to be a willing participant, for more than thirty years, in the City of New York’s efforts to combat corruption and fraud. I began this journey as an entry-level field investigator in 1980, and I rose up through the ranks of corruption fighting within the Department of Investigation (DOI), where I eventually reached the highest position that an investigator can attain, which is deputy commissioner. To my knowledge, I am the only entry-level investigator to have ever risen to the position of deputy commissioner in the history of the agency. Attorneys or individuals appointed by new commissioners to manage the agency have historically held these positions. I pray that I am merely the first in what will be a long history of worthy investigators given the opportunity to take a leadership role in this struggle. Most recently, I have been given the honor of becoming the first-ever director of the Department of Integrity and Investigations for the City University of New York.

I am honored to have been the first in several undertakings in my career, and to have been recognized for many notable and successful investigations. Early in my career, I was tasked to establish the first Bureau of Inspectional Integrity (BII), with the specific function of uncovering and terminating corruption schemes enabled through the inspectional services profession responsible for detecting violations that existed in the vast residential housing market. I also served as a Special Deputy United States Marshall during several of the investigations I conducted involving violations of federal statutes.

My success in this endeavor established my reputation as a committed and conscientious participant in this struggle. Through hard work and an unrelenting desire to start every day being better than I was yesterday, I was able to move into a senior management position within DOI. I was given responsibility for overseeing anticorruption efforts in more than twenty governmental agencies, boards, and commissions, as well as managing more than a $20-million budget allotted for the anticorruption effort.

My success in uncovering corruption led to ferreting out what was, at the time, the largest fraud scheme in the history of one of the agencies that I oversaw. That investigation recovered $20 million for the people. Few understand that, with one successful investigation, a corruption-fighting agency can literally pay for itself. This was an example of such an investigation.

This investigation also amassed a quarter of a million dollars in bribes paid to undercover operatives, which included cash, cars, computers, and other items of value. The cash bribes taken in during this investigation could have covered the salaries being paid to the investigators assigned to this matter. The investigation identified more than six hundred members of the public who benefited from the corruption scheme. It also resulted in the arrests and convictions of agency managers, supervisors, clerks, and members of the public, who orchestrated and participated in the scheme to defraud the government and, by extension, defrauded the people.

I had the privilege of managing a probe involving home heating oil companies, which uncovered $14 million in fraudulent heating bills charged to the government. I also managed an investigation that set a new record in terms of the dollar amount of fraud committed against one of the agencies that I oversaw. In that investigation, I worked with an outstanding team of investigators from DOI, the FBI, and the United States Attorney’s Office in uncovering a corruption scheme in which government employees and other coconspirators fraudulently reduced assessments on the amount of funds individuals owed to the government. The scheme resulted in lost revenues of millions of dollars a year over a thirty-five-year period.

I also formed and directed the Law Enforcement Training Academy at DOI. In so doing, I took the initiative to obtain certification as a New York State–certified instructor in police topics and a certified firearms instructor with the State of New York, as well as obtaining certification as a firearms instructor with the National Rifle Association. I have also obtained certification as an ASP² tactical baton instructor, a defensive driving instructor, a public purchasing agent, and a certified fraud examiner.

I earned my bachelor of science degree in Criminal Justice from John Jay College of Criminal Justice. I received my master’s degree in Public Administration and Urban Studies from Brooklyn College. I have taken the knowledge that I amassed over the years into the classroom and served as an adjunct professor at three campuses of the College of New Rochelle’s School of New Resources in New York City, the City University of New York’s John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and Wagner College in New York City, teaching and lecturing on the subjects of urban studies, crime and deviance, criminal justice, law and justice in America, global corruption, public policy, public administration, and ethics. I have also presented lectures on the topic of corruption at St. Francis College and the College of Mount St. Vincent in New York City.

I have lectured on global corruption to United Nations ambassadors and visiting dignitaries from more than seventy-five countries. I have also traveled to the Republics of Georgia, Tanzania, and Liberia to work with those republics in combating corruption. Most recently, working with the United States Ambassador to Haiti, I have met with the president and prime minister of Haiti to share my insight and training recommendations on establishing anticorruption programs for the country.

Some of my other accomplishments include receiving the Outstanding Manager’s Award in New York City government and multiple awards for outstanding achievements in major investigations. I am a contributor to the book Government Ethics and Law Enforcement: Toward Global Guidelines.

It is because of my day-by-day experiences, successes, and failures that I have responded to the suggestions of my colleagues, students, friends, and family and decided to share my experiences through this publication, in the sincere hope of making a positive difference as the battle to combat corruption continues.

Acknowledgments

What you are about to read began as a few notes for a training session that I was preparing while flying home from one of my corruption-training trips oversees. After sharing these thoughts with Robert Joyce, who at the time was my first deputy, we gave thought to converting these thoughts into an article. The article idea never came to fruition, but I must acknowledge that it was Bob’s confidence in me, along with the confidence of my inner circle made up of my deputies over the years, indeed, the knights of my round table, that later inspired my putting fingers to the keyboard to write Corruption in the Twenty-First Century.

I would not dream of allowing this to be published without extending my sincere thanks to my deputies: Robert Joyce, a model manager, investigator, and comrade. For those Trekkies out there, Bobby J was always my number one, an armor-bearer without equal. Anthony Jordan, AJ, was the first knight to take a seat at my round table. He held the keys to the kingdom that I was first tasked to oversee. He used those keys to open doors that led to fourteen years of successfully combating corruption in that agency. Maureen Thomas-Lewis was my knight of enforcement. In battle, Maureen does not take prisoners. I always found her to be an outstanding leader and tactician, focused and unrelenting, a true warrior by any standard. Benjamin Friedman was the quiet storm. Ben was a low-key knight who quietly led the battle to the location of the ill-gotten gain amassed by corrupt individuals. Theresa Land-Latta was the people’s knight. Theresa always fought the fight as a cause in support of the people. She would move heaven and earth to make a positive difference in the lives of the people impacted by corruption and in support of our anticorruption warriors. Alberta Ancrum was my knight of reason, blazing paths where others have not gone, a knight with a deep appreciation for the rules of engagement and a voice of reason, ready to take any hill and breach any wall. Sam Amorese was my watchman on the wall. Sam was my knight who stood upon the parapet looking for chinks in the armor of those foolish enough to meet us in battle. Lila Mukamal was a deputy whom I always thought of as the Sensei. She was a knight who willingly took the lead in educating the warriors in properly packaging a case. Stacie Pittell was my lone-wolf knight, a no-nonsense knight whom I could always depend on. When it simply had to be done, Stacie was the knight whom I would rely on and not look back. Leonard Picker was my knight of preparation. Lenny’s unique skills allowed him to focus on detail and think outside of the box. He would skillfully polish plans to make them the best that they could be. Joan Russell-Benjamin was my knight of piecing puzzles. Joan could take the maze intended to hide stolen money and convert it into a straight line, with a bright light leading to that point where X marked the spot. Finally, Marquita Allen-Howard was my humble knight and herald. When I came through the door on the first day to fight this fight, it was Marquita who stepped up and began to train me. Through my entire career, she has always been at my side, carrying the banner and putting out the brushfires placed in our path. My thirty years of success were due in large part to the fact that these warriors sat at my table.

If we each took a moment and gave it some thought, we could probably come up with a short list of the most influential people in our lives, the people who helped to mold and make us who we are today. For me, that list consists of four people, the first being Robert P. Green, my father, mentor, and best friend. My dad never graduated from high school, but he was by far the wisest man that I have ever known. I am, because he was.

When I was fifteen, I began working in a neighborhood supermarket. It was there that I met a man by the name of Reginald Edmond Vivian Elvin Seal; he said that his nickname was Julius Augustus Caesar. I will never forget that name, simply because that is the way he always introduced himself. Reggie was the caretaker and would remain in the store overnight to clean up. He was of Caribbean descent, about six foot six, and weighed three hundred pounds—or at least that is how I remember him to be. He would often wax the floor with a machine that would take two of us stock boys to handle. Reggie handled it with one hand while singing a song and telling a story. Several nights a month, a few of us would stay overnight to restock the shelves. It was during those nights that Reggie would mop the floor, and at the same time, he would share with us what it meant to be a man of integrity, to respect everyone, and to demand respect no matter your station in life. The seeds that Reggie planted have served me well in life.

Stewart Yaker was one of my high school football coaches. When I joined the team, I was a third-string lineman. I graduated as the captain of the team, having received the best offensive lineman and the defensive ironman awards; I was named in Prep All-America for Football, and accepted to play football at Cheyney State College. I could undoubtedly give Coach Yaker credit for my becoming stronger, faster, and without a doubt, more durable, but most coaches could make that claim. For me, Coach Yaker went way beyond coaching and took the time to help mold me into the man that I have become.

I doubt that Coach Yaker has any idea of the impact that he had on my life or, for that matter, how cool I thought he was. That does not mean that there were not days that I did not want to trip him as he ran alongside of us screaming at us pansies about digging deep inside and going the distance.

No, I could not tell you what a pansy was, but it was clear that none of us wanted to be one. There have been times in my life where I was in challenging situations. It was in those times that I would consistently hear two voices in my mind, one belonging to my father encouraging me to Confront adversity without giving an inch and the other voice belonging to Coach Yaker, reminding me that I did not want to be a pansy.

When I arrived at Cheyney, my constitutional law professor was a man by the name of Norvel L. Smith. I cannot tell you the words, assignment, term paper, or class that made the difference, but it was Professor Smith who placed the cornerstone in my commitment to pursue a career in law enforcement. When I am lecturing to my students, I often reflect back on Professor Smith and pray that I am making the type of impact on their lives that he had on mine. I doubt that he would even remember me, but that is just part of being a life changer.

Editorial Thanks

Diamonds in the rough, while valuable, are not necessarily marketable until skilled craftsmanship polishes and shapes them for display. I would like to thank the artisans who took the time to edit particular chapters of this undertaking:

Erika Green

Leonard Picker

Athalie Laguerre

Will Carter

Jude Symanski

Andrew Morgan

Pastor Michael Kenton

Raymond Russell

Frank Passarella

Karen Erivona

Vilma Marano

Charise King Smith

Pastor Regina Green

Introduction

Behold, we put bits in the horses’ mouths, that they may obey us; and we turn about their whole body.

James 3:3³

For many people, corruption is a sound bite on the evening news. The reality is that corruption is more akin to a vampire bite sucking the lifeblood from a society, killing some and converting others. Like the coward that it is, it operates in the dark and is no respecter of men. It preys upon the young and the old, the rich and the poor. Race, culture, and ethnicity are no barrier against it. It holds a universal passport and has successfully slipped into all nations, communities, and tribes.

Where values exist, corruption works to compromise those values; where hope exists, corruption rushes in like a raging flood to drown that hope.

Corruption in the Twenty-First Century is intended to be a building block for the dam that will hold back that flood of corruption in our societies. It will enlighten the uninformed, encourage the current warriors, and help to mix the ethical and moral mortar to construct a pedestal made of bricks of truth upon which a new generation of corruption-fighting warriors of continued high ethical and moral character may stand and preach the good word of integrity.

Partakers will receive firsthand knowledge of the workings of corruption and the tools needed to defeat it. You will be enlightened through exposure to actual investigations where corruption was successfully defeated and strategies implemented to stifle the growth of corruption.

This text will educate, train, and empower those who are prepared to pick up the gauntlet and join the struggle. It will also give notice to those who dare to try and cast a dark shadow on the finest that men can do, that they are coming up against a formidable force, committed to standing in the gap between the unethical parasites who prey upon the good works of government and those resolved to work for the good of the people.

Listen, let me be frank: you need to take the time to ingest these words. I promise you that they will inspire and enlighten you. I am not here by accident. The good Lord placed me here with a calling to make a positive difference in the lives of those individuals victimized by corruption. What you are about to read is in response to that calling. It is my desire that these words will present you with an understanding of the harm that corruption can cause to nations, organizations, and the people. One of the major goals of any corruption-fighting agency needs to be to get the message across to leaders, the people, and even the perpetrators, that corruption is not a victimless crime. The fact that a gun was not put to someone’s head or a home broken into does not negate the fact that harm is being done in immeasurable ways.

By any measure, corruption has a negative impact on the present. We need to recognize that its infectious behavior also has a debilitating impact on the future. Most of us do not give it much thought, but when so-called natural disasters strike nations throughout the world and buildings collapse, medical systems fail, and rescue efforts falter, it is not just because the event took place in a third-world or developing country or that plans were inadequate in so-called developed countries. Often, it is because the resources put in place weeks, months, and years before, in anticipation of the possibility of these types of events taking place, were corruptly redirected.

It is my position that the destruction visited upon many developing nations in the aftermath of natural disasters is only partly due to those disasters. A contributing factor is also poor building and construction codes, coupled with substandard materials used to build structures. The technology to build a structure to earthquake, or hurricane, standards is not hidden in places like California, Tokyo, or Paris. The technology is available to everyone.

It is estimated that some 21,000 children die every day around the world as a result of causes related to corruption. That is equivalent to:

>> 1 child dying every 4 seconds

>> 14 children dying every minute

>> A 2011 Libya conflict-scale death toll every day

>> A 2010 Haiti earthquake occurring every 10 days

>> A 2004 Asian tsunami occurring every 11 days

>> Just under 7.6 million children dying every year

>> Some 92 million children dying between 2000 and 2010⁴

The silent killers that work hand in hand with corruption are poverty, hunger, easily preventable diseases and illnesses, and other related causes. Despite the scale of this daily and ongoing catastrophe, it rarely manages to achieve, much less sustain, prime-time headline coverage. Corruption has become quite skilled at muffling the voices of its victims. It is the commitment to oppose all challengers and stand firmly in support of a corruption-free environment that is lacking in many instances throughout the world and contributes to the continued existence of this plague.

What you are about to read will provide turn-by-turn insight on combating corruption in the twenty-first century. Much of what has been written over the years takes the time to show you where you need to go in this fight. What I want to do is not only confirm where you should be going, but more decisively, show you how to get there.

These words are presented with a certain level of humility, but also from the fact that I enjoy a broad perspective on best practices for combating corruption and have actually investigated or managed thousands of corruption investigations over a span of more than thirty years. The book can help to guide leaders of governments and students aspiring to positions of leadership.

In these chapters, we will not just consider the reasons why corruption continues to exist. We are about to absorb a framework that will educate corruption fighters and, at the same time, take the fight from the theories presented in lecture halls, legislative offices, and editorial pages.

Corruption in the Twenty-First Century will introduce to some and refresh others on a practical outline of safely and successfully bringing the fight to where it belongs—which is the doorsteps of those immoral individuals who up until now have relied on the virtual screen of protection provided by the continuing lip service and sound bites from uncommitted and timid leaders and misguided pundits purporting to be carrying the cause of the muffled voices of the people victimized by corruption.

The Cause Must Increase

The hardest part of this profession, at least for me, is recognizing that the day will come when there will be a changing of the guard. I do not relish the thought of a front porch adorned with the finest of rocking chairs, with me sitting in one of them telling anticorruption war stories. Nonetheless, a true corruption fighter, committed to the cause, must understand that while the cause must