You are a French businessman. One day you receive a telegram from the French Minister of Posts and Telegraphs. The telegram invites you along with a select group of businessmen from other companies to attend a meeting with the French government.
At the meeting, which takes place in a very expensive hotel suite, the Minister tells you that the costs for maintaining and repairing the Eiffel Tower are too high and that given recent budget cuts, the city of Paris intends to have the entire Tower dismantled. Since the removal of the Eiffel Tower will prove controversial, all parties at the meeting are sworn to secrecy until the exact details of the removal are finalized.
The government plans to sell the Tower for scrap and intends to act through a private party. The businessmen at the meeting and their respective organizations are chosen because they have a reputation for honesty. The government will be accepting bids from the businessmen at the meeting for ownership of the Eiffel Tower. The details of the exact contract are to be worked out after the bids are processed but only one company will be selected post-bidding.
Upon hearing this, you realize that this deal is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You are an ambitious French businessmen and you want to make it big in Paris. This is your chance. After the bids are put forth, you secure a private meeting with the Minister. The Minister says that the decision for who to give this project to is HUGE and he wants to get it absolutely right. In the same meeting, he also mentions that he is severely underpaid for his position and can’t really enjoy the lifestyle he really wants.
Understanding what he is hinting at, you offer to pay him 500,000 to help him make the Right Decision. He nods solemnly as you have the money brought to him in cash and in a suitcase.
“Aye Monsieur,” he says to you. “I will definitely reach the Corrr-eh-kt desee-z-ee-on now.”
Soon after the meeting, the Minister takes your money and disappears. . You have been massively outplayed. There never was a project to sell the Eiffel Tower and the “Minister” was a con man. It was all a filthy trick.
As you realize this, you look up from your table at the café window to see the “Minister” grinning at you from across the street. A bus drives by and then he vanishes. You drop a croissant unto the floor.
So the discussion question is this:
Do you call the French police or not? Why or why not?
Keep in mind that the con artist used a disguise for his con and that he made all bookings under a false name. It is essentially impossible for you to track him down (since you don’t have a photo, don’t know his real name, his real face,his whereabouts or have any trails to follow). However, you may contact the police if you wish.
On the one hand, you should because the “Minister” could show up again and pull off the same con again on other unsuspecting folks. He could still be at large in France and you do have a general duty(?) to warn the public.
On the other hand… its pretty fucking embarrassing. The police might laugh and if this gets out, the public won’t be so impressed with your business decisions.
So then what do you do? What is more important to you personally? What’s convenient for you?
