Those who have followed this blog know that one of my favorite subjects is Fraud. Mainly the type committed by those who make the most and need the money the least: Management Fraud. But there exists, of course, a million other types of fraud, from con men to tax evaders. Which brings us to this tale of two famous or infamous fraudsters in the news recently.

Dennis Kozlowski was the CEO of a conglomerate called Tyco. Through acquisitions, Kozlowski grew Tyco into a giant public firm which was very successful and respected by Wall Street. He also managed to get paid tens of hundreds of millions in compensation from salary, bonuses and stock awards. But somehow this may not have been enough. Kozlowski was convicted of “stealing” from his company with an elaborate compensation package and outlandish expenses. These included a $30 million company owned NYC condo with, among other things, $6,000 in shower curtains and over $10million in artwork. You would want your luxury condo to look good after all. And let’s not forget the birthday party for his then second wife on the coast of Italy for which Tyco paid half of the $2 million cost. For all of this he was sentenced and just completed serving over 8 years in prison. One of the harshest sentences ever for a corporate executive. Kozlowski reported to a Board of Directors who were supposed to monitor his compensation and certainly understood much of what was going on. None of the Board were charged. Many business writers believed that Kozlowski’s punishment exceeded the crime in these circumstances.

Ty Warner, of Chicago, invented Beanie Babies and has been listed as having over $5 billion in net worth. But what does Ty do? He puts a mere $100 million or so of it into hidden Swiss bank accounts. Over a decade he uses different names including a foundation to evade U.S. income taxes. He has now paid our government over $70 million in back taxes, penalties and interest. The criminal trial just wrapped up. His lawyers argued that this tax evasion was the only mark on his lifelong business and charity record. Seems like a pretty big stain to me. The federal prosecutors argued for at least a year in prison as an example to others. The Chicago judge ignored federal guidelines of up to five years in prison and sentenced Warner to two years of probation and community service.

It was tax evasion that finally got Al Capone, also of Chicago. Tax criminals and corporate criminals should be treated the same. Ironically those who perpetuate most of these Frauds have the most money and the least reason to do so. It is very often more of a second thought or a game to them. So when caught and convicted, they should pay.

So what should we learn from all this? Individuals who commit fraud should be prosecuted with a criminal trial not just an out of court settlement. So often public corporations are afraid to deal with this type of unpleasantness and just announce that someone has left to pursue other interests. If those who commit fraud are not properly dealt with, it sets a terrible example for those who remain. It also allows corporate criminals to go off to some other organization and perhaps act in the same fashion. And it should not matter if the fraud involves expense accounts, kickbacks or tax evasion. Corporate America went through a rough patch with companies like Tyco and Enron grabbing headlines for all the wrong reasons. Some of the punishment was excessive in comparison to earlier times or similar crimes. What we need is consistent sentences based on federal or state guidelines. And even those with records as otherwise model citizens or major charitable donors should do prison time if that is the norm. Criminal Fraud should be followed with criminal punishment.