Emily Clarke

Why are PEPs More Likely to Be Involved in Bribery and Corruption?

Politically exposed persons (PEPs) are individuals who are public figures in the political sphere. These may be politicians, but PEP can be used to define anyone who is engaged in prominent public functions. This means that heads of an industry may also be classified as PEPs, and people who have prominent roles in global media organizations may also be PEPs. For more information on screening for politically exposed persons, visit the website.

People in these positions are human beings just like everyone else, but they are often held to a higher standard due to their positions. Likewise, the public often assigns a higher standard to these individuals, whether fair or not. This means that politically exposed persons typically need to be extra-cautious about their business dealings as well as the public's perception of their affairs.

How Corruption and Influence Affect PEPs

Because PEPs often deal with large sums of money or command vast amounts of resources, they can be prime targets for individuals with nefarious intent. Many times, a PEP will start in politics or an industry with the best of intentions, but over time, small exceptions are made to ethical and moral standards that the person once held in esteem.

Criminals will often try to get close to PEPs to gain influence. These people may seek to become advisors, confidants, or counselors of the politically-exposed figure. Once a criminal gains influence, they can begin to chip away at the ethical standards of the PEP, leading prominent figures to get ensnared in bribery and corruption scandals.

Blackmail as a Tool

Once a PEP has gotten involved in illegal or unethical behavior, a criminal may then turn to blackmail to control the PEP. Criminals often keep records of shady business dealings that the PEP has been involved with to elicit complicit behavior in further crimes. This ultimately leads to bigger and bigger lies that need to be told as the PEP gets pulled deeper into a scheme.

As a solution, PEPs are encouraged to be very careful about who they associate with and always have a few independent witnesses present when engaging in business deals. Politicians can avoid the appearance of scandal by creating accountability departments in their cabinets that will report on activities to the public.

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Emily Clarke writes about identity verification and business verification service. You can find her thoughts at ID verification app blog.