[tstegart]

If there were no sales, how was he getting paid? I'm assuming there is also a risk management/compensation moral to this story as well. You paid someone a commission before a customer had written a check. If the customer later changes their mind (or in your case, does not exist), you would have to get the money back. Even if they had been legit customers but later changed their mind, getting money back is never a good thing to do. I presume you don't compensate like that anymore.

[MrFantsyPants]

We never actually paid him a cent. We covered some of his expenses. Where it hurt us was in moral, and in internal resources poured into a dead end pit. At least he's facing 40 years in jail, and 5 years on, we've managed just fine.

[tstegart]

Thats good to hear. I'm glad you guys are still going after that.