image of New Jersey

The case centers on New Jersey’s image. It emphasizes that New Jersey has a nice image because of its magnificent beaches, pleasant villages, and rolling countryside. Despite its attractive exterior, the city is overshadowed by a substantial amount of toxic garbage, mob violence, and endemic corruption, particularly among those in power. According to the lawsuit, New Jersey has been ranked first among other states in terms of having the most cases of fraud.

The corruption issues in New Jersey are stunning, unfathomable, and fictitious at their best because people involved in these ethical issues are individuals who have been entrusted with the job of caring for public resources. and particularly public elected officials and those administering public affairs. The case explains the blatant disregard of ethics by publicly elected officials by giving an example of a senator and a mayor who misuse their position gain from public resources. The New Jersey senator bribe his girlfriend for $6 for breaking up with him and fails to disclose the information concerning the used amount. Similarly, it mentions of a mayor who uses the tax payers’ money his foreign trips. To make matters even unrealistic, in 2009 top public officials of New Jersey consisting of three mayors, two assemblypersons, and five rabbis were among the forty-four indicted for participating in bizarre in international money laundering. Besides, the state has experienced high cases of sales of body parts, passing of millions of cash as well as bribes to secure government development projects.

Studies cite the increase in corruptions among state official due to their massive influence (Gorsira, Denkers, & Huisman, 2016). The political leaders in New Jersey are the highest individual engaged in corrupt cases because they have immense power and influence. Similarly, perceived opportunity not to comply with corruption cases also controls most state officials to participate in unethical cases such as fraud. According to Ashforth & Anand (2003), political leaders may take part in corrupt cases due to their management of public projects amounting to millions of money. Still, Benson & Simpson, (2015) state that opportunity to participate in corruption related case can be due to increased weak laws to tackle corruption cases. The rise in the level of corruption and unethical issues in New Jersey may be attributable to the weak legal system it has in place or poor implementation of the corruption related legislations. The benefits that accrue from bribery and unethical related cases can be of great influence for one to engage in fraud. Aguilera & Vadera, (2008), argue that individual and particularly in power engage in fraud cases because of the reward that comes from acquiring resources from public accounts for free. The New Jersey senator gave bribe for his girlfriend for his benefits such as protecting their image.

The issues of corruption and unethical issues among state officials among agents of the state is not a matter unique to New Jersey. Other world prominent leaders of the world such as Jacques Chirac of France and Berlusconi of Italy were indicted by corruption cases (Vogl, 2016). Like, the political figures in New Jersey, the political influence, lack of morality and opportunity presented was the motivating factor for these leaders to engage in corrupt deals. Therefore, New Jersey must show leadership in dealing with corruption issues, and this must start from elected official and to those managing public resources.

References

Aguilera, R. V., & Vadera, A. K. (2008). The dark side of authority: Antecedents, mechanisms, and outcomes of organizational corruption. Journal of Business Ethics, 77(4), 431–449.

Ashforth, B. E., & Anand, V. (2003). The normalization of corruption in organizations. Research in Organizational Behavior, 25(25), 1–52.

Benson, M. L., & Simpson, S. S. (2015). Understanding white-collar crime: An opportunity perspective. New York: Routledge

Gorsira, M., Denkers, A., & Huisman, W. (2016). Both Sides of the Coin: Motives for Corruption among Public Officials and Business Employees. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-16.

Vogl, F. (2016). Waging war on corruption: Inside the movement fighting the abuse of power. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield