[_jal]

Right, I'm sure a white-collar exec took kickbacks because poker is banned in some jurisdictions.

I agree that we massively overcriminalize things. But apologizing for a crook this way is just silly.

(Not to mention you're factually incorrect on some of this, universalizing the rest when it isn't universal, and generally being very hyperbolic.)

[wayoutthere]

It’s more about the general erosion of the rule of law. It forces you to weigh “how wrong is this” versus “will I get caught”. We make these choices every day, and after a while, it moves your own morality (especially when faceless, abusive corporate structures are the victim).

When unchecked, corruption becomes a local maximum. The corporate version of “plata o plumbo” (silver or lead, the choice Pablo Escobar gave government officials in Columbia) is an unspoken rule at a lot of “cash cow” companies or mature industries; they won’t trust you unless they can hold something like this over your head. Step out of line and they prosecute you, or if you don’t play ball your metrics will look like shit and you’ll get fired for poor performance.

My guess is that this guy just made some powerful enemies.

[horsawlarway]

I'm responding directly to the comment above, asking which crimes they might have unintentionally committed.

You'll notice I make no comment about the kickbacks here.

And yes - the whole POINT is that none of these are all that intuitive, and they vary by region. So the odds are very good that you're violating some city/town/state ordinance fairly often, but the lack of enforcement means you never consider it.