[mikeash]

And once again, serious crimes are committed and nobody suffers any serious consequences.

I’m also curious, what is “the company itself” other than its employees? What part of a company is capable of knowing things besides the people in it?

[tptacek]

The obvious distinctions would be between management and line/staff workers, between executive management and line management, and between executive management and the board.

The typical implication of "the company" "knowing" things would be executive management (and, if the conduct actually involved executive managers, the board).