How To Bribe an Official, Ex-Im Example

You can safely bet the hotel and airline getting paid for the upgrade is not about to rat anyone out.  But in essence this is how it works.  During the small talk before the meeting, the regulator happens to mention he is going on vacation to Aruba on these dates on this airline and staying at this hotel.

Then comes the upgrades every step of the way, and hey, why not? Some companionship on the side.

These are not isolated incidents. Bloomberg reported that Exxon Mobil in 2009 paid for nearly $100,000 in travel expenses for Ex-Im employees to places such as London, the South Pacific, and Tokyo. While both parties said this was "standard industry practice," the conflict of interest is apparent. Exxon Mobil was seeking $3 billion in financing from Ex-Im at the time — and received it 11 months later. The Heritage Foundation's Diane Katz found that 74 investigations into potential cases of fraud have occurred at Ex-Im since April 2009. For an agency with only 400 employees, this is a very serious problem.

Of course it is standard industry practice.  Get big or get out, this is something small business cannot afford.  Inspectors general can investigate, but they cannot prosecute.

Hong Kong has an answer, as usual: The Independent Commission Against Corruption.   We need people who can not only investigate but make arrests and prosecute malefactors, independent of the State.  Actually, we used to have that in USA, and to this day it exists in qui tam prosecutions.  Need to expand that practice back to include the people prosecuting state actors.

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