The indictment of Virginia's past governor and his wife is certainly a personal tragedy for them, and it is also an object lesson in the slippery slope of corruption.
After several years of experience as a trust officer, I became a division president for a large public company responsible for public syndication of real estate. During a review of property-level and fund-level expenses, I realized my investors were being over-charged and immediately reversed those charges. Of course, that increased expenses of the large public company and made me quite unpopular. I was nicknamed "booker" as in "by the book." (One particular executive sometimes referred to me as "Booker T. Flinchum.")
Now, suppose my daughter wanted a fancy wedding that I could not afford or that my wife had huge credit card bills and was already borrowing heavily from a "friend." Would I still have been able to withstand corporate pressure to over-charge my investors? I suspect so but will never know. Family money pressures are crushing. Many marriages fall victim to such pressures. While that does not excuse corrupt behavior, it may make it somewhat understandable.
I salute Governor McDonnell for passage of his transportation bill but, assuming media reports are accurate, regret he apparently followed his wife down that slippery slope into corruption and dishonor. I have met the former Governor and know many of his friends, all of whom uniformly vouch for his good character.
After several years of experience as a trust officer, I became a division president for a large public company responsible for public syndication of real estate. During a review of property-level and fund-level expenses, I realized my investors were being over-charged and immediately reversed those charges. Of course, that increased expenses of the large public company and made me quite unpopular. I was nicknamed "booker" as in "by the book." (One particular executive sometimes referred to me as "Booker T. Flinchum.")
Now, suppose my daughter wanted a fancy wedding that I could not afford or that my wife had huge credit card bills and was already borrowing heavily from a "friend." Would I still have been able to withstand corporate pressure to over-charge my investors? I suspect so but will never know. Family money pressures are crushing. Many marriages fall victim to such pressures. While that does not excuse corrupt behavior, it may make it somewhat understandable.
I salute Governor McDonnell for passage of his transportation bill but, assuming media reports are accurate, regret he apparently followed his wife down that slippery slope into corruption and dishonor. I have met the former Governor and know many of his friends, all of whom uniformly vouch for his good character.
My internal financial planner wonders if this tragedy could have been avoided with better financial planning? All he had to do . . . was to ask for help . . . before stepping onto that slope!
