Introduction
Corruption is a significant issue faced by every country or corporation to some extent. In some cases, effective methods are implemented in order to reduce fraud and investigate such crimes. In others, corruption, bribery, fraud, and other types of misconduct represent considerably higher rates. The Glenn Defence Marine Asia case is a prime example of corruption-related problems, which led to a comprehensive investigation and development of new regulations and norms. It is critical to use such cases as learning opportunities and introduce new techniques to combat corruption. These improvements are closely linked to both legislation frameworks and ethical climate. The Glenn Defence Marine Asia case resulted in further development of procurement processes. For example, several steps were taken to maintain competitiveness for contractors. Healthy competition in a relatively free market may effectively prevent corruption as such misconduct leads to a significant decrease in productivity. Ethical frameworks also play a considerable role in preventing corruption. It is necessary to pursue high moral standards as it is the key to decreasing bribery. Accounting violators and introducing strict rules and punishment are also essential. Even though The Glenn Defense Marine Asia scandal is associated with significant financial losses and conspiracy flaws, it also provides valuable knowledge needed to prevent such crimes in the future.
Violation of Existing Regulations
It is hard to overcome corruption in a separate organization, and it may be even less possible to take it down on a national level. Nevertheless, it may be necessary to implement regulations and norms in order to reduce rates of misconduct. The Glenn Defence Marine Asia case has shown that existing regulations may not provide sufficient frameworks to prevent corruption. Relatively small bribes and gifts, appropriate links with authorities, and abusing high positions may be enough to violate the existing legal frameworks (Greene, 2018). It can be necessary to develop new techniques related to external audits and inspections.
Leonard Francis is the owner of Glenn Marine Defense Asia and is a primary participant of illegal agreements, bribery, and fraud. It is estimated that his actions led to overbilling the contracts by approximately $35 million. Such irreparable financial damage was caused by systematic violations of regulations and laws by Leonard Francis and his entourage (Greene, 2018). Illegal activity included both financial manipulations and selling classified data and documents.
Government-Industry Data Exchange Program (GIDEP) serves wide range of purposes, including sharing knowledge between contractors. Such communication and data exchange may reduce the chance of fraud and corruption as it may be easier to identify overvalued items or nonconforming items. Moreover, GIDEP may significantly increase security and prevent a data breach. In many cases, governmental contractors have access to valuable secret or military information. Therefore, it is critical to conduct timely GIDEP reports and investigate the data. It may not only prevent illegal actions but maintain the workflow of these organizations by providing additional verifications. In the Glenn Defence Marine Asia case, reporting and data exchange was not conducted properly. It would have been possible to prevent the scandal, financial losses, and data theft if GIDEP frameworks were implemented appropriately and other contractors could validate the data.
Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act (PFCRA) also provides regulations designed to prevent corruption. PFCRA covers a wide variety of illegal actions related to fraud and corruption, including procurement fraud, pay and entitlement fraud, and claim fraud (The Federal Register, 2019). In addition, it prohibits and controls false statements and false claims even if they were uncovered before any payments (The Federal Register, 2019). The program utilizes several techniques, which may decrease the probability of fraud and also provides methods to implement punishment.
In the Glenn Defence Marine Asia case, these regulations were avoided by bribes and agreements. Inspections provided insufficient or even wrongful data, which allowed the fraud to continue and escalate. PFCRA principles may need several improvements in order to perform better. Such reform proposals include increasing the jurisdictional limits and increasing penalties. They also suggest empowering inspectors and providing them with more investigation opportunities. PFCRA cases may also be controversial and complicated to evaluate. In such cases, the cooperation of multiple agencies may be needed, which may be challenging to achieve. It may be necessary to allow these agencies to cooperate early to investigate PFCRA cases. Timely involvement and comprehensive investigation may prevent fraud, such as the Glenn Defence Marine Asia scandal.
Restitution may also play a significant role in decreasing the harm of corruption. Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) provides a restriction approach, which may be highly beneficial. Far is a restitution approach that may be consistent in terms of legislation and is effective in assessing harm (Nelson, 2015). Moreover, it may introduce efficient frameworks required to recover from contractors (Nelson, 2015). It may also prevent the illegal activity of contractors as it provides more specific methods of fighting corruption. These regulations could be effectively implemented in the Glenn Defence Marine Asia case. FAR might not be able to prevent such cases fully, yet it may be highly effective in compensating for the harm and transitioning to another contractor. Conclusively, even though corruption may be inevitable, it may be possible to lower its rates by utilizing relevant methods and regulations.
References
The Federal Register (2019). Federal Acquisition Regulation. The Federal Register, 84(226), 64680-64707.
Greene, J. (2018). The Glenn defence marine Asia problem: The role of ethics in prucurement reform. Public Contract Law Journal, 48(1), 16-34.
Nelson T. (2015). A Restitution Alternative for Department of Defense Agencies to Combat Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act-level Cases under FAR 9.4. Public Contract Law Journal, 44(3), 469-504.