Let me use this space to say 7 figures is 7 figures. If this is your best chance to be that successful, don't let it slip away. How bout looking your wife in the eye and telling her times are rough and you cannot provide? I say go with financial security unless you are going to hurt other people directly....as in the enron case. This really can't be compared to enron or worldcomm because you're not hurting anybody....unless there's something else we don't know.

 

I would be very careful, although this may be an 'above-the-line' kickback/bribe (whatever that means), if you move more than a certain amount of money (i believe $10 thousand) or withdraw cash in a repetative manner, you will send up the 'Money Laudering' flag at your bank. This is especially true if you are moving it from a personal account to an off-shore account. In this environment, I don't know if you want the the authorities knocking on your door.



From my Firm's employee handbook:
Suspicious behavior is cumulative; where a single unusual occurrence might not cause any special notice, the repeated occurrence of events which are inconsistent with a customer's stated business, or the occurrence of several different types of suspicious behavior, become increasingly suspect.

If a customer is unable to provide satisfactory explanations to questions raised by unusual/suspicious behavior, xyz staff should contact their unit's Compliance Officer or Fraud Prevention and Investigations to discuss the appropriate steps for xyz to take, which may range from simply continuing (or increasing) the monitoring of the customer's activity, to filing a Suspicious Activity Report with the appropriate regulatory agency.

 

Bad business practices.

I don't know the magnitude of risk involved in your situation, but I simply would not do it.

First, you're selling your soul, and second, you can potentially screw yourself. My family is FULL of successful business men/women and not one has ever practiced anything potentially illegal. They've certainly have had their ups and downs, but with more and more years in the business, with more experience, they've managed to come out on top and make the salary that made them content. Gotta be in it for the long run.

 

In the end, my judgment would be based on the ability to provide for my family and me. If not getting the account could be costly to my welfare, I'll do most anything to protect it....yet document it all with recordings, copies, etc. to protect myself as much as I can in future if need be.

If getting the account would provide quite comfortable means for me and mine, then I would try to play best by the rules after getting the account....again document and save everything!

That's my judgment from my situation (point-of-view) now, however, if put into Mingster's predicament, I may opt to take the high road as well.

 

When I used to work for different Hotels as the "Capital Assets Manager"...Chief Engineer I would have to entertain bids on various projects. While inspecting an 80,000 Square Foot roof one of the bidders asked me "How much will it cost to get this job?" That was neither the first nor the last time that I was offered "gratuities" to ensure that a bid would be in the forefront of the bidding process. My ethics didn't allow it and they were removed from the bidding process.

Most of the hotels that I worked at I had $1M + budgets for Capital, Utilities, and day to day operations. It would have been very easy to earn at the very least 100% of my salary as tax free under the table money.

 

it took me some time to read all the replies, and they all have very good points. i want to thank everyone's input and perspectives.

to answer some questions: the companies in question are good 'o US companies. i know EVERYONE must have at least shopped there once. what's funny is that the buyers are blaming the ASIANS for corrupting them. buyers (or their global sourcing counterparts) often travel to Asia to inspect factories and see new products, and i can tell you Asians know how to let these buyers feel important.

i've really given this a lot of thought, and i think looking in my wife's eyes and saying we're going hungry is because i decided not to sell my integrity out is better than being financially well off and feeling guilty.

i've also reported this incident to El Jefe, and he told me don't stress over people like that. "we'll do it on our own merit" he said, and pat my shoulders.

i haven't openly talked about the company i work for because we're pretty high profile in our industry, and i'm afraid that one of you may be working for my competitor