Finding the 'Right' Way to Dispose of Ill-Gotten Gains by Donating to Charity

Several years ago, a large European company asked Thomas M. DiBiagio to run an internal audit on its South African operations. The company suspected that something might be amiss. And it was right. In the course of the audit, he discovered about $12 million that might best be described as ill-gotten gains. DiBiagio, now a partner at the law firm Baker Botts, reported what he found to the company’s management and suggested something novel: Since the money had been earned “from aggressive business practices” the company should give it to charity.