I have written before about the corruption risks related to major sporting events like The Olympic Games and The World Cup. Whenever billions of dollars converge on a single event, corruption risks are high.
There is an unusual event these days that is also attracting billions of dollars: the pandemic. Governments all over the world are spending billions every month trying to contain the virus and finding a vaccine. One way to mitigate related corruption risks is to clearly see how these billions are spent.
To that end, the US Congress passed a law earlier this year creating a database that was intended to track all COVID-related monies spent by the US government and to protect taxpayers. However, the current administration found a loophole and awarded $6B of vaccine contracts to a single company without taxpayer protections.
The US government is indicting more companies than ever under the “books and records” provisions of the FCPA (and for good reasons). So why is the same government not following its own advice and being transparent about how it is spending public funds?
The Ethical Leader 