Reaction Paper – Greed is No Respecter of Persons

Diann Cattani was a well-respected and trusted employee, a Mormon from a privileged, Christian family, and a graduate from BYU. She obtained all of the qualities that every successful corporation strives to gain in their employees. Catanni was smart, persuasive, likeable, dependable, and so much more. Her bosses, whom she referred to as “family,” trusted her with a great deal of responsibility within the firm. Those who knew her would have never guessed she was capable of felony fraud by stealing half a million dollars from the company. After graduating from BYU, Diann made her way to Atlanta where she began her first job at a newly established Human Resources consulting firm. Her incredible work ethic and likeable personality quickly allowed her to move up within the ranks of the company as she was entrusted with more and more responsibilities. The promotions came with additional extravagant benefits such as fine dining at the White House with President Bush, attending parties hosted by US senators, enjoying Braves games next to the team’s general-manager in his own personal box, etc. This came with a great deal of pressure for success for Cattani, knowing that she wanted what they had. Catanni’s fraud began when her plane tickets to Utah were purchased on her corporate card, rather than her personal one and never reimbursed the company the money she owed. She justified her actions by claiming she was still working by dealing with conference calls and other daily tasks, leaving her with little vacation time at all. Her rationalization continued as she used the company card for office furniture, gas, food, and even rewards to herself for favors she did for coworkers. She created fake invoices, reimbursed herself for multiple, fraudulent expenses and adjusted the books to cover it all up. The fraud committed by Diann Catanni is a perfect illustration of the Fraudulent Triangle – opportunity, pressure and rationalization. She had the opportunity to steal $500,000 from the company due to the trust granted to her by her employer. She felt pressure to succeed once she experienced the extravagant lifestyle of high-status, million dollar individuals. Lastly, she rationalized with continuous false justifications for her decision to steal. Although an ideal employee with a moral, Christian upbringing, she was able to spiral out of control into an addictive scheme of fraud. Half a million dollars later, Diann’s bad conscience made her confess to the fraud, a decision that would result in life long consequences. She was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison and ordered to repay the damages of $500,000 to the company. She became a disgrace to her family as her husband filed for divorce and her parents had to take responsibility of caring for her 3 young children. Although she has served her time in prison, Catanni will forever pay the consequences of her actions. She still struggles to mend the relationship with her family, pay her debts and cannot obtain a job with benefits for a well-off lifestyle. Cattani is doing what she can to make up for her mistakes by traveling the country and speaking out about the damages of fraud and encouraging others to “Choose the hard right instead of the easy wrong.” Diann Catanni’s story ties into a great deal of the things I have learned in several of my business courses so far throughout the semester. First off, it is important for managers to define and implement a clearly understood values-based culture for members of the firm to follow. These values should emphasize the importance of honesty and ethical decision-making. Additionally, top managers should monitor employee behavior in some form or another to maintain oversight. For example, had her boss performed authentic, professional audits by an outside company, Diann’s crime may have been discovered early on and lessened the damages received. Lastly, it is important for everyone to remember that with additional responsibility, it is important to strive for ethical decisions and choosing the right way, although not always the easiest.