James Kent Quotes

I'm very interested in how corruption works - and it's not necessarily the way one might expect.

When you've got a guy who's in position to influence who gets what, the potential is always there for corruption.

The hanky-panky in public service that really matters is about money and not sex.

Corruption in Saudi Arabia is quite different from corruption in most other countries, as it is not limited to a 'bribe' in return for a contract, or expensive gift for the family member of a government official or prince, or use of a private jet that is charged to the government so a family can go on vacation.

I could never have any corruption from the state because I never had any business with the state.

Our anti-corruption systems have inherently and intently been kept flawed.

Corruption happens because there is impunity. That's the reason why corruption is widespread at all levels - from the person who asks for a bribe on the street to those who hold prominent positions.

Where the grifter is shameless, the grafter shrinks from exposure, which could only endanger the racket. He is greedy but not creatively ambitious. He toils in mundane self-dealing, insider trading, bribe taking, witness tampering, and other forms of workaday corruption.

We don't know what proportion of public funds is regularly lost to collusion and corruption. Is it 25 per cent? 30 per cent? We do know that a portion of these public funds are feeding organized crime.

Organized crime is the dirty side of the sharp dollar.

Corruption has its own motivations, and one has to thoroughly study that phenomenon and eliminate the foundations that allow corruption to exist.

Public office must not be a means to profit or become rich.

The chief internal enemies of any state are those public officials who betray the trust imposed upon them by the people.

Public corruption is the FBI's top criminal priority. The threat - which involves the corruption of local, state, and federally elected, appointed, or contracted officials - strikes at the heart of government, eroding public confidence and undermining the strength of our democracy.

Crime, money, power, drugs - are all linked.

Until we can fully grasp the extent of corruption and fraud involved in the administration of the Oil-for-Food program, and until the United Nations decides to cooperate in the investigation, no American taxpayer dollars should go to the United Nations.

Corruption, embezzlement, fraud, these are all characteristics which exist everywhere. It is regrettably the way human nature functions, whether we like it or not. What successful economies do is keep it to a minimum. No one has ever eliminated any of that stuff.

Corruption is not a problem just for some countries; this is a global issue.

Corruption is the principle source of financing political parties..

Despite high profile examples of local authorities been tried, convicted, and sometimes even executed for corruption, many officials simply calculate that the payoff for malfeasance is worth the risk of being caught.

Corruption may be one way of surmounting traditional laws or bureaucratic regulations which hamper economic expansion.

Men in power have no opinions, but may be had cheap for any opinion, for any purpose.

The administration of government has become more complex. The opportunities for malfeasance and corruption have multiplied.

… an organized system of blackguardism.

Behind a mask of apparent openness and accountability to which once-trusted accountancy firms and business analysts were willing collaborators, a raft of corrupt practices has undermined the livelihoods and expectations of millions.