Ethics: perspective of a felon
Does it come as a big surprise that a convicted felon—indeed, a white collar criminal—would have
developed some thoughts about the topic of ethics? Probably not. Since my conviction I have
had plenty of time to ponder the idea of ethics, and I’ve conducted some research on my own
about the subject. In doing so, I’ve received tons of advice. I must say, I wish I’d had this
information at the beginning of my career.
Prisons are full of people who feel the justice system failed them. For some reason, they think
they shouldn’t be there. I thought the same thing when I was in prison. The truth is, I and my
fellow inmates did everything right to get ourselves into prison. We did precisely the wrong things,
in precisely the right order, at precisely the wrong time. And there we were.
So I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the system; it was me.
In 1999 I began serving a 21 month federal prison sentence for conspiracy to commit mail and wire
fraud. The crime involved four real estate investors submitting fraudulent documentation in order
to get approved for residential home loans. Ultimately, these individuals took the equity out of the
properties. Payments were never made on the loans, which caused the bank to foreclose on the
property and incur thousands of dollars in losses.
I was their unsuspecting loan officer. After the first few transactions, I knew in my heart that some
of the documents I was receiving were fakes. I didn’t say anything. I justified my silence and
inaction by telling myself that verifying all documents was not my job. I wasn’t sure if they were
fakes, I told myself. Who was I to accuse someone of fraud if I wasn’t sure?
Over the course of about nine months, my justifications continued far past any rational point. The
proverbial “gray area” became black. Toward the end of my involvement with these four
individuals, I actually got involved in the purchase and sale of one of the properties, and
participated in reaping the profits.
To make matters worse for myself, occasionally I would be given a couple hundred dollars under
the table after I completed transactions. I told my self that these were “tips” for doing such a good
job. My co-conspirators probably called it “hush money.” The FBI called it “criminal activity.” The
United States government had the final word, and they called me “guilty.”
I have been told by some people that my crime was “fraud lite.” Some have said that I was
unlucky; wrong place at the wrong time. Well, there is no such thing as fraud lite, and luck has
nothing do with making the right decisions. I committed a crime. I am not proud of it and I’m
certainly no hero for talking about it now.
However, there is an ethics lesson to be learned in all of this.
Dictionary.com defines ethics as “a set of principals of right conduct.” So, in order to have ethics,
someone or something has to list out some principals of conduct that they deem to be “right.” This
could be an employer, a trade association or our government. (In the case of our government,
this list is called “the law.”)
Employers get to decide this right conduct because, well, it’s ultimately their money and reputation
at stake. Trade associations enact Codes of Ethics because they want to protect the image of
their collective professions in the eyes of their current and potential client base. If you don’t agree
with their principals of correct conduct, you are always free to start your own company or get out
of the association.
For the most part the laws enacted by our government are designed to protect. Another way to
look at it is: laws are the principals of correct conduct to follow when you’re not at work or part of a
trade association.
Some principals of correct conduct overlap between different entities. Occasionally, people get
confused about which entity’s rules or conduct they are to follow at what time. Things can really
get confusing when we witness routine violations of the principals of correct conduct by fellow
employees, association members, or citizens without immediate consequence.
If ethics is a set of principals of right conduct set forth by someone or something, how can general
business ethics be taught? My understanding of being ethical was that you base your decision to
do or not to do something on the feeling you get in your stomach. If that’s the case, how do you
teach “stomach feeling” to someone?
Perhaps this logic is what led me astray.
It was nice to finally understand that ethics is more than just a feeling and, that it is actually a set
of principals of correct conduct set forth by someone or something. But this still didn’t solve my
dilemma. In a business’ Code of Ethics, you can’t possibly account for every situation. For every
principal of correct conduct; for every “right” way to act in one situation, there is another, different
situation that follows, that may require yet a different “right” way to act.
It reminded me of trying to teach my children not to say bad words. If I tried to give them a list of
forbidden words, I felt that my list couldn’t possibly be thorough enough. The list would be too
long and if I missed one, the lesson would be incomplete. I could always add new words to the list
as they came up, but then that would be, “making up rules as I go along,” and I don’t want to teach
them that lesson either.
If you don’t have kids, you’ve at least been a kid at one point, so I think you’ll be able to relate to
one of my child-ethics lesson opportunities.
I was traveling in my car with my boys, four and seven years old. In the rear-view mirror I saw the
older one punch the younger one on the arm. The young one howled,
“aaahhhhhhhhooooooowwwww-auh!” I said, “Hey! Don’t punch your brother.” Immediately, the
older one slapped his little brother in the arm. I said, “Don’t slap your brother either.” This was
followed by a poke, which I followed with, “don’t poke.” A tickle – “Don’t tickle.” Then just a touch.
Finally, I said, “keep your hands to yourself. Period!” The instigator was reduced to leveling a
taunting glare at his younger sibling.
This could have gone on for hours. I finally gave them the ol’, “Don’t make me come back there!”
(Which of course makes no sense since, I was driving.)
Aren’t there simply too many variable situations in the real world? Yes, but ethics isn’t about
situations. It is about people and their characteristic behavior.
Ethics doesn’t stand for “what to do.” It stands for how to behave. Finally understanding this
made ethics less confusing for me. Not crystal clear, just less confusing. If you have ever had
confusion about ethics, I hope this helps you too.
Here are my theories.
For employers and leaders, it is imperative that you have a set of principals of right conduct. But
to simply disseminate this information in printed format will not be enough. Ethics or behaviors,
are best conveyed by example. Additionally, violations of ethical standards must be dealt with and
not overlooked, or the unethical behavior will become business as usual.
If you are a member of an organization that adopts a code of ethics, read the printed words and
follow the examples of the leadership. Pay attention to the feelings in your stomach. They may
not tell you exactly what to do, but it may serve as a red flag. Remember, justifying questionable
behavior is nothing more than being dishonest with yourself.
Lead your ethics model by example. Follow your ethics model with honesty.
Back in 1994, when my criminal involvement with the real estate investors was becoming clear to
my boss, he taught me a valuable lesson. He was talking about my behavior, and its reflection on
my character, when he said, “The appearance of impropriety is as bad as impropriety itself.” Not a
bad golden rule.
Ethics may be a confusing area because it has to cover so many situations. But confusing does
not mean impossible.
Take my experiences and words for what they’re worth, coming from a convicted felon. Strive to
be honest, diligent, and consistent. Society, your company, your family, and your children need
you to stay out of prison.
Jerome Mayne is a keynote speaker and author. He has worked with dozens of companies and associations
around the country helping their people make the right decisions, when the right decisions aren’t easy. He is a
member of the National Speakers Association as well as the Real Estate Educators Association. He’s the author
of the book, Life Saving Lessons – The Diary of a White Collar Criminal and co-author of Mortgage Fraud and
Predatory Lending – what every agent should know (Kaplan Publishing). .
© Copyright, Jerome Mayne 2008
.
Does it come as a big surprise that a convicted felon—indeed, a white collar criminal—would have
developed some thoughts about the topic of ethics? Probably not. Since my conviction I have
had plenty of time to ponder the idea of ethics, and I’ve conducted some research on my own
about the subject. In doing so, I’ve received tons of advice. I must say, I wish I’d had this
information at the beginning of my career.
Prisons are full of people who feel the justice system failed them. For some reason, they think
they shouldn’t be there. I thought the same thing when I was in prison. The truth is, I and my
fellow inmates did everything right to get ourselves into prison. We did precisely the wrong things,
in precisely the right order, at precisely the wrong time. And there we were.
So I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the system; it was me.
In 1999 I began serving a 21 month federal prison sentence for conspiracy to commit mail and wire
fraud. The crime involved four real estate investors submitting fraudulent documentation in order
to get approved for residential home loans. Ultimately, these individuals took the equity out of the
properties. Payments were never made on the loans, which caused the bank to foreclose on the
property and incur thousands of dollars in losses.
I was their unsuspecting loan officer. After the first few transactions, I knew in my heart that some
of the documents I was receiving were fakes. I didn’t say anything. I justified my silence and
inaction by telling myself that verifying all documents was not my job. I wasn’t sure if they were
fakes, I told myself. Who was I to accuse someone of fraud if I wasn’t sure?
Over the course of about nine months, my justifications continued far past any rational point. The
proverbial “gray area” became black. Toward the end of my involvement with these four
individuals, I actually got involved in the purchase and sale of one of the properties, and
participated in reaping the profits.
To make matters worse for myself, occasionally I would be given a couple hundred dollars under
the table after I completed transactions. I told my self that these were “tips” for doing such a good
job. My co-conspirators probably called it “hush money.” The FBI called it “criminal activity.” The
United States government had the final word, and they called me “guilty.”
I have been told by some people that my crime was “fraud lite.” Some have said that I was
unlucky; wrong place at the wrong time. Well, there is no such thing as fraud lite, and luck has
nothing do with making the right decisions. I committed a crime. I am not proud of it and I’m
certainly no hero for talking about it now.
However, there is an ethics lesson to be learned in all of this.
Dictionary.com defines ethics as “a set of principals of right conduct.” So, in order to have ethics,
someone or something has to list out some principals of conduct that they deem to be “right.” This
could be an employer, a trade association or our government. (In the case of our government,
this list is called “the law.”)
Employers get to decide this right conduct because, well, it’s ultimately their money and reputation
at stake. Trade associations enact Codes of Ethics because they want to protect the image of
their collective professions in the eyes of their current and potential client base. If you don’t agree
with their principals of correct conduct, you are always free to start your own company or get out
of the association.
For the most part the laws enacted by our government are designed to protect. Another way to
look at it is: laws are the principals of correct conduct to follow when you’re not at work or part of a
trade association.
Some principals of correct conduct overlap between different entities. Occasionally, people get
confused about which entity’s rules or conduct they are to follow at what time. Things can really
get confusing when we witness routine violations of the principals of correct conduct by fellow
employees, association members, or citizens without immediate consequence.
If ethics is a set of principals of right conduct set forth by someone or something, how can general
business ethics be taught? My understanding of being ethical was that you base your decision to
do or not to do something on the feeling you get in your stomach. If that’s the case, how do you
teach “stomach feeling” to someone?
Perhaps this logic is what led me astray.
It was nice to finally understand that ethics is more than just a feeling and, that it is actually a set
of principals of correct conduct set forth by someone or something. But this still didn’t solve my
dilemma. In a business’ Code of Ethics, you can’t possibly account for every situation. For every
principal of correct conduct; for every “right” way to act in one situation, there is another, different
situation that follows, that may require yet a different “right” way to act.
It reminded me of trying to teach my children not to say bad words. If I tried to give them a list of
forbidden words, I felt that my list couldn’t possibly be thorough enough. The list would be too
long and if I missed one, the lesson would be incomplete. I could always add new words to the list
as they came up, but then that would be, “making up rules as I go along,” and I don’t want to teach
them that lesson either.
If you don’t have kids, you’ve at least been a kid at one point, so I think you’ll be able to relate to
one of my child-ethics lesson opportunities.
I was traveling in my car with my boys, four and seven years old. In the rear-view mirror I saw the
older one punch the younger one on the arm. The young one howled,
“aaahhhhhhhhooooooowwwww-auh!” I said, “Hey! Don’t punch your brother.” Immediately, the
older one slapped his little brother in the arm. I said, “Don’t slap your brother either.” This was
followed by a poke, which I followed with, “don’t poke.” A tickle – “Don’t tickle.” Then just a touch.
Finally, I said, “keep your hands to yourself. Period!” The instigator was reduced to leveling a
taunting glare at his younger sibling.
This could have gone on for hours. I finally gave them the ol’, “Don’t make me come back there!”
(Which of course makes no sense since, I was driving.)
Aren’t there simply too many variable situations in the real world? Yes, but ethics isn’t about
situations. It is about people and their characteristic behavior.
Ethics doesn’t stand for “what to do.” It stands for how to behave. Finally understanding this
made ethics less confusing for me. Not crystal clear, just less confusing. If you have ever had
confusion about ethics, I hope this helps you too.
Here are my theories.
For employers and leaders, it is imperative that you have a set of principals of right conduct. But
to simply disseminate this information in printed format will not be enough. Ethics or behaviors,
are best conveyed by example. Additionally, violations of ethical standards must be dealt with and
not overlooked, or the unethical behavior will become business as usual.
If you are a member of an organization that adopts a code of ethics, read the printed words and
follow the examples of the leadership. Pay attention to the feelings in your stomach. They may
not tell you exactly what to do, but it may serve as a red flag. Remember, justifying questionable
behavior is nothing more than being dishonest with yourself.
Lead your ethics model by example. Follow your ethics model with honesty.
Back in 1994, when my criminal involvement with the real estate investors was becoming clear to
my boss, he taught me a valuable lesson. He was talking about my behavior, and its reflection on
my character, when he said, “The appearance of impropriety is as bad as impropriety itself.” Not a
bad golden rule.
Ethics may be a confusing area because it has to cover so many situations. But confusing does
not mean impossible.
Take my experiences and words for what they’re worth, coming from a convicted felon. Strive to
be honest, diligent, and consistent. Society, your company, your family, and your children need
you to stay out of prison.
Jerome Mayne is a keynote speaker and author. He has worked with dozens of companies and associations
around the country helping their people make the right decisions, when the right decisions aren’t easy. He is a
member of the National Speakers Association as well as the Real Estate Educators Association. He’s the author
of the book, Life Saving Lessons – The Diary of a White Collar Criminal and co-author of Mortgage Fraud and
Predatory Lending – what every agent should know (Kaplan Publishing). .
© Copyright, Jerome Mayne 2008
.
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| Jerome Mayne |
Contact:
612-919-3007
E-mail
9185 Cedar Forest Rd.
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
612-919-3007
9185 Cedar Forest Rd.
Eden Prairie, MN 55347
All of Fraudcon and Jerome Mayne Services:
Jerome Mayne is a Public Speaker for Fraud Conferences and Fraud Conventions, including
Mortgage Fraud Conferences and Mortgage Fraud Conventions. In addition to being a Fraud,
Mortgage Fraud and White Collar Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking
Expert, he also consults for Public Speakers who speak in the areas of Fraud, Mortgage Fraud,
White Collar Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking.
A customized public speaking engagement can include fraud statistics, federal fraud statistics,
mortgage fraud statistics and the effects of fraud on a company.
Has been an Expert and a Keynote Fraud Public Speaker at Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, White Collar
Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking events, including conferences and
conventions. For specific engagements, see client list.
Primary Areas of Expertise:
Mortgage Fraud Public Speaker
White Collar Crime Public Speaker
Fraud Public Speaker Trainer
Fraud Public Speaker Consultant
Fraud Convention Public Speaker
Fraud Conference Public Speaker
Fraud Expert Public Speaker
Mortgage Fraud Expert Public Speaker
Mortgage Fraud Consultant Public Speaker
Jerome has developed a talk on ethics that evokes thought and discussion. He explores the
definition of ethics as described on www.dictionary.com, the differences between general business
ethics and the set of principals of right conduct, or ethics, as set forth by an employer or a trade
association. His talk on ethics was designed for presentation to the MBA program at Hamline
University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Jerome Mayne is a Public Speaker for Fraud Conferences and Fraud Conventions, including
Mortgage Fraud Conferences and Mortgage Fraud Conventions. In addition to being a Fraud,
Mortgage Fraud and White Collar Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking
Expert, he also consults for Public Speakers who speak in the areas of Fraud, Mortgage Fraud,
White Collar Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking.
A customized public speaking engagement can include fraud statistics, federal fraud statistics,
mortgage fraud statistics and the effects of fraud on a company.
Has been an Expert and a Keynote Fraud Public Speaker at Fraud, Mortgage Fraud, White Collar
Crime and White Collar Mortgage Fraud Public Speaking events, including conferences and
conventions. For specific engagements, see client list.
Primary Areas of Expertise:
Mortgage Fraud Public Speaker
White Collar Crime Public Speaker
Fraud Public Speaker Trainer
Fraud Public Speaker Consultant
Fraud Convention Public Speaker
Fraud Conference Public Speaker
Fraud Expert Public Speaker
Mortgage Fraud Expert Public Speaker
Mortgage Fraud Consultant Public Speaker
Jerome has developed a talk on ethics that evokes thought and discussion. He explores the
definition of ethics as described on www.dictionary.com, the differences between general business
ethics and the set of principals of right conduct, or ethics, as set forth by an employer or a trade
association. His talk on ethics was designed for presentation to the MBA program at Hamline
University in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
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