Ken早上在飲水器旁見到同事Dan和April,談起公司首席財務官Jason Smith參與龐式騙局被抓起來的事情。Dan問罪名嚴不嚴重。
D: So how serious are these charges?
A: He could end up serving a very long prison term. These days judges are pretty tough on white collar crimes.
D: I actually met Jason at a cocktail party about a year ago. He seemed very charming and bright. I remember we had an interesting conversation and he was quite knowledgeable about Asian affairs.
A: Yeah, that sounds about right. Most of these kinds of tricksters are very charming...otherwise, how would they be able to convince so many people to part with their money?
April說,搞不好,Jason會坐很長時間的牢,因為現(xiàn)在法官對白領犯罪下手很重,白領犯罪在英文里叫 white collar crime. Dan 在一次 cocktail party 雞尾酒會上見過Jason,對他印象不錯,April覺得這很正常,因為這些人要是沒有兩下子,怎么能說服別人把自己的錢拿出來呢? to part with one's money 是把錢交出來的意思。
K: If someone told me I could get a 200% return on my investments, I'd smell a rat. I bet some of these people had a pretty good idea they were dealing with a Ponzi scheme.
A: Good point, but it's going to be hard to find evidence they knew about it beforehand.
D: So what happens to white collar criminals in America? Is there a special jail for them?
K: In the past many of them got sent to low or medium security prisons. People used to joke about how easy it was for them.
Ken懷疑參與龐式騙局的一些投資者其實是知情的,因為如果告訴他說有投資機會,百分之二百的回報,I'd smell a rat. 我一定會覺得可疑。Ken說,白領罪犯以前都是被送到 low or medium security prisons 安全級別中低水平的監(jiān)獄,所以日子比較好過。
A: But more recently, the government has decided to make an example and has been getting much tougher.
K: If he is convicted, Jason will probably end up in a federal prison with hardcore offenders. He could be there for well over 10 years.
D: Wow...that's harsh.
K: Jason Smith says he is innocent, so we'll have to wait and see what the final verdict is. I'm just glad I didn't invest any of my money with him.
D: Me too!
A: Me three!
April解釋說,但是近來,政府決定對白領犯罪加強處罰, to make an example of someone有殺一儆百的意思。Ken說,如果法庭判處 Jason 有罪的話,Jason 就可能會坐十年以上的大牢,而且是跟 hardcore offenders惡性犯罪分子關在一起。三個人都表示,幸好沒有把自己的錢拿出來讓 Jason 去投資。