Congressmen, lobbyists, and car salesmen have some of the worst reputations for honesty and ethics, as do business execs, stock brokers and real estate agents. And there's a reason why: The rules of their games are stacked against good behavior.
It's been more than two years since Bernie Madoff's gigantic Ponzi scheme collapsed, but the blame game is just beginning. And many of the victims are jockeying for position, hoping to recover some money from other parties who might be deemed partly responsible for the fraud.
According to the latest leaked U.S. diplomatic cables from WikiLeaks, Pfizer hired investigators to try to uncover evidence of corruption in order to pressure the Nigerian attorney general to drop the case against it.
For decades, U.S. companies doing business overseas have had to avoid falling afoul of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which prohibits the bribing of foreign officials. But in the past few years, such corporate misbehavior is receiving more attention and increased enforcement, which is making executives nervous.
Alan Hevesi, the former comptroller of New York state, has pled guilty to corruption charges that he accepted campaign money and gifts from a California venture capitalist in exchange for directing pension-fund money to the donor's firm.
Federal investigators are looking into allegations that major drug companies, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline, paid bribes overseas to boost sales and accelerate approvals.
The jury found ex-Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich guilty of lying to the FBI but deadlocked on the 23 other charges. Because of one hold-out juror, Blagojevich goes free on charges including allegedly selling the President's Senate seat.
Two federal agencies are investigating whether drugmaker Merck & Co. violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which bars U.S. companies from bribing foreign officials.
New Jersey's Chris Christie is preparing to announce sweeping plans to overhaul Atlantic City's casino district, just one part of a set of proposals that would mark the biggest changes to the state's gaming industry since gambling was legalized.
How long will it take Haiti to make even a modest recovery from the devastating earthquake that killed 330,000 people six months ago? At least 20 years, according to the Action Plan released by the impoverished island nation's government.
The international mining community has long known about the country's vast mineral resources. But most mining companies remain wary of starting big, long-term projects there. Among the problems: No peace, no stability and a fondness for bribery.
While the U.S. government sniffs around at Hewlett-Packard's allegedly shady dealings in Russia, Harvard economist Jeffrey Miron argues that in some places, bribery can be a good thing, and says the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act only handicaps U.S. companies while doing nothing to prevent corruption.
On Thursday, after two years of inquiries by the German government, the U.S. Justice Department and SEC opened investigations into whether Hewlett-Packard bribed Russian officials to win a contract with Russia's top criminal prosecuting agency.