Harvin C. Moore III learned a few ethics lessons during his rise and fall from a Texas business leader to a convicted white-collar criminal.
The Master in Professional Accounting graduate program hosted Moore on Wednesday to speak about those lessons before a group of students at the multipurpose room in the San Jacinto Residence Hall.
Moore, now a real-estate developer, lectured on his ascent to financial success in the early 1980s on the wheels of a real estate development and home building company valued at $250 million and a savings association with more than $400 million in assets.
But beginning in 1985, a severe rut developed in the number of buyers for the Houston-area real estate market and Moore soon found himself in debt, with $1.1 million owed to the Internal Revenue Service in unpaid income taxes.
"I should not have even begun to contemplate buying the [savings-and-loan] in the first place. Most of my stuff was debt-driven. I was very good at borrowing money," Moore said. "I didn't have the courage to make the ethical choice. When you get that high up, the money is absolutely awesome. You get calloused to things and ethical lines are blurred and soon erased. If money is your goal, you'll never get the end of it."
In the 1990s, Moore was sentenced to two years in a federal prison for committing fraud.
"I came to the conclusion of my wrongdoing in the courtroom," he said. "I had to quit looking at it through rose-colored glasses."
Moore said that ethics in the accounting profession are now "absolutely critical." He said as situations become more complex, accountants must be the first ones to deliver truth and honesty.
Stephen Limberg, director of the master's program, said he believed Moore provided a real-world example of how accountants face ethical dilemmas not normally associated with the profession.
"I cannot fathom ethics not being a real important part of our training. [Moore's] story fit the bill perfectly," Limberg added.
Be the first to comment on this article!