Former fugitive talks to Virginia Tech students about business ethics

There’s no better time for students to get a lecture in business ethics than right now.
“Especially with the recent financial crisis that’s going on and all the unethical behavior,” agreed Brian Yi, a Finance and Management Student at Virginia Tech.
   
Hundreds of Yi’s colleagues filed into Burruss Hall at Virginia Tech to hear from one time crook, Patrick Kuhse.
   
After serving four years in prison for a financial fraud scheme, Kuhse’s made it to the stage to talk about his criminal past and the criminal activity we’re seeing in the news, starting with Bernie Madoff.

“In Bernie’s case it’s going to be interesting, because I don’t know that he’s going to adapt quite as well to prison as a lot of people do,” said Patrick Kuhse, International Speaker and Business Ethics Consultant.
   
On the same day the air is filled with talk about AIG Executives receiving $165 million in bonuses, Kuhse says while the company does have contractual agreements, he’s siding with the president.

“It doesn’t seem right,” Kuhse asked.  “That we as the tax payers are giving all this money to an organization that in turn is rewarding bonuses and allegedly the bonuses are going to the group that started the whole ball rolling on the current financial meltdown.”
 
When asked why these financial leaders are “smart people who do dumb things”, also the theme of his speech, he says they simply think they deserve it.

“I think that a lot of times we get caught up in entitlement.  We just feel like we’ve earned the right to because we are who we are,” Kuhse said.
   
Kuhse told students entitlement is just the first in a line of bad behavior that can lead to a criminal record and he had plenty of time to think about it…behind bars.