Charles “Chuck” Duross was a guest speaker for the Let’s Talk about Fraud series, and he shared his experiences to over 230 participants, most of whom were students studying multiple majors at the University of Arkansas.
Duross is a former Deputy Chief of the Department of Justice. There he spent a majority of his time working in the fraud section of the criminal division. In fact, Duross was on the opposite side of the table when our other guest speaker, Richard Bistrong, was being indicted for his role in conspiring to pay bribes to a third-party intermediary, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Duross now works as a white collar criminal defense attorney with Morrison & Foerster and is internationally recognized for his leading role in developing and implementing the government’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act enforcement strategy.
Duross shared some of the more common themes that he has seen during his career. For example, he mentioned that most people don’t go into their jobs with the intent of committing white collar crimes. He cautioned that it is often a slippery slope. People take one step past the line, then another, and another before realizing they don’t remember where they started, or even crossing that line the first time.
Duross goes on to share common mistakes he sees business managers make that land them in trouble and some of the common rationalizations that business managers tell themselves that mask the true seriousness of their actions until it is too late.
To hear more about Duross’ experiences in white collar crime and business ethics, check out The BIS: Business Integrity School video & podcast series with Cindy Moehring. Moehring and Duross had an insightful discussion full of thoughts on how business ethics and enforcement has changed over the years, and advice he has for students graduating and starting their careers in business.
