Times Leader | 03/12/2006 | Corporate philanthropy open to abuse ALL BUSINESS Bruce Meyerson

Times Leader | 03/12/2006 | Corporate philanthropy open to abuse ALL BUSINESS Bruce Meyerson: "Corporate philanthropy open to abuse ALL BUSINESS Bruce MeyersonCORPORATE philanthropy generally doesn�t rank very high, if at all, on the list of shareholder grievances.That may be a mistake, since charitable giving can be ripe for abuse and self-serving behavior by executives.The magnitude of such misbehavior can range from outright crime to more subtle acts such as funding a charity in which a top manager is involved, a donation that can benefit an executive�s social standing more than the company and its shareholders.At the extreme, though it remains to be proven, shareholders of mortgage lender Fannie Mae are alleging in a federal lawsuit that former chief executive Franklin Raines used charitable contributions to compromise the judgment of six board members in the $11 billion accounting scandal at the company"