Unmasking Fraud: Hard Lessons at $350,000/Hour

  [Excerpt from an article by Kelly O’Donnell, (c) 2010]

Yesterday they prayed for us. Today they preyed on us.

Major fraud and other forms of corruption are a fact of life. Just think of the bogus solicitations that you get regularly in your email inbox, sincerely asking for your sympathy, help, personal financial information, and ultimately your money. People get duped all the time. And even the financially savvy can become the prey of experienced fraudsters. No one is immune to being exposed to fraud’s far-reaching toxins, including people and organizations in the faith-based community.

 For example an estimated 32 billion US dollars are stolen around the world through “ecclesiastical crime” according to the latest estimates published in the International Bulletin of Missionary Research  (January 2010, p. 36). Think of it as being a collective “minimum wage” paying over $350,000 per hour to “thieves” (many who are respected) within church-mission settings. This outrageous figure is derived by dividing the $32 billion dollars by the amount of hours per year. Further, if a “40 hour work-week” is considered, rather than working 24/7, then the international-collective estimate increases to about $1.5 million US dollars per hour. Think of it as being universal “crimianity”: the devastating result of the widespread, egregious mingling of Christianity and criminality. http://www.internationalbulletin.org/archive/all/2010/1

The humanitarian assistance sector apparently fares no better. Consider the sobering news from the July 2008 joint report from Transparency International et al on the widespread occurrence of corruption in humanitarian assistance. The report includes a succinct perspective to help us understand the reality of corruption. Corruption is primarily an ‘abuse of entrusted power for personal gain’ which can devastate people in many ways (erosion of trust in self and others; time, energy, and money seeking justice; disillusionment), rather than solely being a financial matter (p.2). Review the report–especially the two-page Executive Summary at: http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/download/1207.pdf

In summary: Coruption is not just a concept out there some where. Rather it is a tangile reality for many of us in our everyday lives that comes in many guises. So what do we do to prevent, confront, and erradicate corruption in the church-mission community? Personal examples and suggestions?

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