Corporate Criminals

although a corporation is legally a “person” it cannot be jailed for it’s actions. it seems as if, to a corporation, criminal fines become nothing more than a business expense. are you supporting these criminals?

Exxon pled guilty to criminal charges in connection with the Valdez oil spill. They were charged a criminal fine of $125 million. They were responsible for the 11 million gallons of crude oil which contaminated 700 miles of the Alaskan shoreline killing wildlife and ruining the homes of thousands of Native Americans.

Sears pled guilty to bankruptcy fraud with a fine of $60 million. “Sears intentionally misled bankrupt debtors without attorneys and defrauded the Bankruptcy Court for over a decade,” said U.S. Attorney Donald Stern said. “This was not the haphazard action of a few employees. It represented an outrageous company policy, carried out by those responsible for debt collection, which plainly violated federal law.”

Royal Caribbean Cruises pled guilty to 21 felony counts and were assessed an $18 million criminal fine. They pled guilty to lying to the U.S. Coast Guard, routinely dumping waste oil from their cruise ships and deliberately dumping into U.S. harbors and coastal areas many other types of pollutants, including hazardous chemicals from photo processing equipment, dry cleaning shops and printing presses.

Rockwell International Corporation pled guilty to ten counts of environmental crimes and were charged a criminal fine of $18.5 million. They pled guilty to violations of the Clean Water Act and were charged with improperly and illegally discharging wastes creating the potential for contamination to a reservoir used for drinking water.

Chevron pled guilty to 65 Clean Water Act violations and paid $8 million in fines. They were charged with discharging oil in waste water exceeding limits in their federal permit. They also admitted to diluting waste water prior to its being sampled in order to understate the oil and grease discharged.

Tyson Foods pled guilty to giving former Secretary of Agriculture Alphonso Michael Espy over $12,000 in gratuities. Tyson gifted money to Espy while it had a number of matters before the Department of Agriculture. They were charged a $4 million criminal fine.

United States Sugar Corporation pled guilty to eight felony environmental counts and was fined $3.75 million. Their charges included illegal disposal and transportation of hazardous wastes.

Bristol-Myers Squibb pled guilty to charges of illegally dumping pollutants into the waters of Syracuse, New York. They paid $3 million in criminal fines.

Eastman Kodak Company pled guilty to criminal charges of unlawful dealing in hazardous wastes and failure to properly notify authorities of a chemical spill. they were charged a $1 million fine. Joseph Polito, a neighboring resident said this regarding the amount of the fine “It’s equivalent to you or I getting a jaywalking ticket”.

visit: corporatepredators.org for more.