We promise to be good. Please don't stop us.

Global money laundering is estimated to be between $800 billion to $2 trillion per year, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, while companies lose 5% of their revenue every year to employee fraud, says the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, wrote B Dominic. "An organization that loses trust among its customers due to one dishonest act of their employees will have to demonstrate its honesty in many more occasions just to even stand a chance of conveying to its customers that it has now mended its ways." The Volkswagen scandal is a typical example, in which the company installed a 'defeat device' in each of its diesel cars to reduce emissions during tests but not when the the car was in use. Profits of the company are still being hit because of recall of defective cars and fines imposed by regulators. Why do employees resort to such scams which will definitely be detected at some point? It maybe because companies set unrealistic targets on employees. There are many studies showing that companies should help employees reach their targets, but managers maybe creating unbearable pressure to maximize 'shareholder value', wrote J Nocera. When American Airlines gave a raise to its workers its share prices fell. "Labor is being paid first again," wrote K Crissey. "Shareholders get leftovers." The vast majority of those who cheat do it only once in a while. "Usually just a feeling that one is going to cause harm to someone is enough to deter a wrong act. But if the party on the other side is the government, or large organizations, the feeling that one could cause harm to them does not easily arise." People in India believe that the government is there to provide us with everything, because of decades of socialism, known colloquially as 'mai baap sarkar', which means 'government our father'. There is certainly a feeling that the government must provide everything but that is only in those who qualify for handouts or reservations, while the educated middle-class has a deep mistrust, even contempt, for politicians and civil servants, when we are consistently found to be the most corrupt country in Asia. The constant lies by politicians do not help. For example, we are constantly being told that biometric identity cards are optional and only to prevent theft from subsidies to the poor, but it is mandatory to file income tax returns. It is no surprise that at least some people see the government as the enemy. Instead of punishing corrupt officials the Rajasthan government wanted to pass a law to protect them. Most of us want to be honest. Just get the monkey off our backs.