WEDNESDAY,OCTOBER 16,2002
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Former CEO preaches business ethics
By Aaron Passman
apassman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Richard Halford, of Overland Park, used to eat out frequently, drive a fancy car, belong to a country club and have several credit cards, but all that changed last year when he plead guilty last year to four criminal counts.
Halford, who was charged with failure to pay income tax and violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), spoke yesterday at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union to an audience of about 100 people. He was introduced by Christopher Anderson, assistant professor of
business, who arranged Halford's visit to campus.
Anderson said he read about Halford's legal troubles in the paper and arranged his visit as part of Halford's community service requirement.
Halford's sentence included 1,000 hours of community service and five years probation.
Halfard spent most of the lecture discussing his involvement with "The Costa Rican Project," a plan to build, develop and operate a new port on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.
In order to facilitate the construction and development of the new port, $1.5 million in contributions was given to various Costa
Rican political parties, which Halford said was a violation of the act.
"Political contributions are considered the same as bribes in the eyes of the FCPA," he said. Halford also said that the FCPA did not differentiate between intent and action when it came to violating the act, adding that there had only been 41 successful prosecutions of the FCPA since its inception in 1976.
Halford said he felt no resentment at his punishment. He said he had come to terms with what his life was now.
"I can not too strongly tell you the effects of a thing like this on your personal life," Halford said. "It effects you socially, economically and it affects your health." Halford said since entering his guilty plea he had developed angina and had two heart bypasses. He said he supported himself now by drawing social security and working as a telemarketer.
One business student said she thought there was much to be learned from Halford's experience.
"A lot of times we don't really talk about the moral implications of the practices we're taught, so it's good to bring in someone who has made those mistakes," said Erin Eastwood, Wichita senior.
—Edited by Matt Norton
John Nowak/Kansan
Richard Halford spoke to students yesterday about business ethics at Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union. Halford is on probation after pleading guilty to four criminal counts, including violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
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