Watch Jerome Mayne’s Keynote on Fraud & Ethics

In this powerful and surprisingly funny keynote, Jerome Mayne shares the true story of his fall from corporate success to federal prison—and the ethical blind spots that led him there. His talk has been delivered to thousands of professionals in banking, finance, and compliance, and it’s now available for you to preview.

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I have a story to tell and I wish it was not my story. On November 4th, 1999, I reported to the federal prison in Yankton, South Dakota…

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Everybody thinks that when a guy goes to prison there’s always one thing that always happens. I’ll just tell you: there is no big guy named BUBBA, okay? His name is BRADLEY. If you don’t have clarity, there are things that happen when you try to make choices. If you don’t know who you are, then how do you know what choice you’re going to make? That might sound crazy. Thing is, there’s real change — because people need clarity. When they have clarity, they can make better choices. Because with all choices, there are the consequences. And we all know that there are three things: there is clarity, choices, and there are consequences. How do you get those? Here’s what happens if you don’t have clarity: you justify. When you justify, it means you’re not following your instinct. When you justify, you have to sidestep what your instinct is and do something else — that’s harder. Our instinct is what you feel, and that’s what you do going forward. That’s the easy thing. You don’t have to think, because it’s who you are. Well, there are consequences. There are consequences for every choice. And I — I have certainly experienced more than, I guess, a lot of people. My sentence was 21 months. Federal prison. Do kids even understand what 21 months is? Well, the day came when I had to go. I had to report to prison. And the night prior to that, I sat with my kids and I wanted to tell them the best way — the best way they could understand. I had to come up with a way they would understand. The best I could do was I said, “I’m going to be gone for two Santa Clauses.” And they got that. Many of you are parents, and you know what your jobs are, right? And some of the most important jobs are to make sure your kids aren’t scared and that they feel safe. And I was trying to do that. I was holding it together. I was doing a good job. And then I — then I lost it. And then they started crying. And I had failed. I’m going to do the best job I can. I’m going to contribute and do my small part in making that event a success.

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