White-Collar Crime is NOT Victimless--Managers Must Be Accountable

White-Collar Crime is NOT Victimless--Managers MUST Be Accountable, Says Business Ethics Expert/Consumer Advocate

"Managers must be accountable for betraying their investors. What Edward Stern and the fund managers who allowed him special privileges did is not a victimless crime," says business ethics expert and consumer advocate Shel Horowitz, known as "The Enron Antidote." Horowitz noted that Edward Stern was ordered to pay $30 million in restitution. "That money came out of the pockets of people who didn't have the illegal advantage of trading after hours, or even the legal advantage of market timing, and who bore the costs of these schemes. The people who twisted the rules for Stern betrayed the sacred trust of other investors who let them keep watch over their money."

Horowitz made his remarks in response to stories in the New York Times, Sunday, September 7, 2003: "New York State Attorney General accuses mutual fund managers of twisting rules to benefit wealthy client" and In these articles, the New York State Attorney General disclosed that Stern was illegally allowed to make trades after the closing bell, and also was given the ability to engage in "market timing"--moving money rapidly in and out of funds--when other investors not only weren't given the same opportunity, but weren't even told.

Horowitz says:

People have the right to be treated ethically and fairly; mutual fund shareholders at Bank of America gave special privileges to Stern that put ordinary investors at a disadvantage

When corporations violate their stakeholders' rights for personal or corporate gain, their managers must be held accountable

In the long run, businesses will grow more from doing the right thing

His newest book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, demonstrates that even in the Enron Age, businesses do best when they treat people right. The book has been endorsed by former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, consumer advocate Mona Doyle, Jack Canfield, Jim Hightower, , and many others (full list at .

Horowitz, whose previous five books include a consumer book on how to save money, an expose of the nuclear power industry, and three other business books, is an experienced media guest who is available for interviews

CONTACT:
Shel Horowitz, 413-586-2388 (Eastern time--Massachusetts)
mailto:shel@principledprofits.com

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