Internet Fraud Casebook

Chapter 25. Keeping It All In The Family

DAVID PETTERSON

Michael Flanders was 26 years old when he started working as the chief financial officer (CFO) for Condor Construction. This was the first sole-charge position the young accountant had held in his fledgling career, but he felt he was ready for it.

No one could accuse Michael of a lack of confidence. His good looks, natural charm and charismatic appeal endeared him to all he met. Michael was the person his younger brother, Daniel, most respected and from whom Daniel fashioned his own academic and professional aspirations. Together the two brothers were viewed as markers of success for their hardworking parents, Cynthia and George Flanders. Their sons were destined to be successful family men, men they would always be proud of. Pride was a foundation of the Flanders household.

When Michael first interviewed for the CFO position with Condor Corporation, he made no secret of his wish to succeed in both his personal life and his career. His parents had a small hardware store that both he and Daniel had worked in during their school vacations. Michael, while respecting his father's achievement of owning his own business, saw the store as well below the level of achievement that he wanted for his own life.

The Rise of Condor

Indeed Michael told Alan Campbell, the president and founder of Condor, that "I plan to be a millionaire by the time I'm 35 and, while that means I will have to work even harder than my father did, I know I can do ...