In this episode of Trekking Through Compliance, we consider the episode Mudd’s Women, which aired on October 13, 1966, with a Star Date of 1329.1.
Story
Harry Mudd attempts to evade the Enterprise with his small class J cargo ship and leads it into an asteroid field. The Enterprise extends its shields over Harvey’s ship, burning out three of its four lithium crystals. The crew of the Enterprise becomes fascinated with the three beautiful women Mudd has been transporting.
As a result of the destruction of three of its lithium crystals, the Enterprise is forced to divert to Rigel 12 to obtain new crystals. Mudd makes his bargain with the lithium miners on the planet. At Mudd’s prompting, the miners offer to provide Kirk with lithium only in exchange for Mudd’s freedom and the three women’s freedom. Kirk learns the women’s beauty secret: Mudd has given them the Venus drug. Kirk beams down to collect the lithium from Childress while providing Evie with red gelatin, which she believes to be the Venus drug. Evie believes herself again to be beautiful and unintentionally reveals her natural inner beauty. In the end, Kirk gets his lithium, Evie remains with Childress, and Mudd is taken into custody.
Commentary
This podcast focuses on Harcourt Fenton Mudd and his dubious exploits, particularly around transporting women under false pretenses. Tom delves into the broader themes of human trafficking, examining issues such as the illusion of consent, manipulation, and economic exploitation. He also emphasizes the importance of victim support, legal responsibilities, and the power of awareness and education in combating human trafficking within compliance programs. The episode provides a timely reflection on these issues while drawing parallels to modern compliance challenges.
Key Highlights
Plot Summary of ‘Mudds Women’
Human Trafficking Themes in ‘Mudds Women’
Compliance Lessons from ‘Mudds Women’
Resources
Excruciatingly Detailed Plot Summary by Eric W. Weisstein
Daniel Greenberg is the founder, president, and lead investigator of Greenberg Corporate Intelligence, a Washington, DC-based boutique investigations firm that commenced operations in March 2023. The firm offers research and intelligence services for private-sector clients such as support attorneys, private equity firms, hedge funds, and compliance teams.
Dan has worked in the due diligence and corporate investigations field since 2010. Most recently, he was a managing director at Forward Risk, having previously worked at Kroll, Exiger, and TD International.
Beginning in 2018, Dan helped grow Forward Risk from a small, newly established company with a handful of employees to a premier firm with over 25 full-time investigators. Forward Risk was acquired in November 2022, and after a transition period, Dan left to establish his independent firm – GCI.
He has a track record of uncovering hard-to-find facts, overcoming difficult challenges, and providing responsive service. His experience has mainly centered on investigative due diligence, shareholder activism support, litigation support, and competitive intelligence.
Dan holds a B.A. in International Affairs from George Washington University and an M.A. in Middle Eastern History from Tel Aviv University. Dan is also a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE #: 869765). Dan is licensed as a Private Detective in the District of Columbia.
The term due diligence is so often overused that in the present colloquial vernacular, it is used as a quick, easy, and usually lazy shorthand way of describing various background checks – varying from basic, perfunctory desk research to complete blown investigations.
To tackle such misconceptions, Daniel chats with Regulatory Ramblings host Ajay Shamdasani to clarify what “due diligence” entails while describing his own path as an entrepreneur.
Daniel shares his recollections about going to college in the US capital and later pursuing further graduate study – delving into the past of a long-troubled region in Israel.
The conversation goes on to delineate why investigative due diligence is (or should be) of paramount concern to the world’s largest banking and financial institutions and multinational corporations, as well as whether traditional backgrounds such as law enforcement, military service, or intelligence work are necessarily the best ways to get into such work in an age when many corporate investigators are ex-journalists or researchers.
Daniel stresses that his firm’s approach to such work is focused on using open sources, public records, and interviews to identify and understand fraudulent behavior and other risk issues.
The discussion concludes with a reflection on the tragic events following Hamas’ incursion into Israel on October 7, 2023, and Daniel shares his expertise on how, with all the intelligence and technology Israel had at its disposal, even it was taken by surprise.
Podcast Discussion:
3:09 From International Affairs to Due Diligence: Professional Journey
18:27 Mastering Google and AI in Investigative Due Diligence
26:46 The Role of Open Source and Public Records in Investigative Due Diligence
31:42 Defining Due Diligence: Beyond Background Checks to Comprehensive Accountability
39:01 Contextualizing Risks: Distinguishing Red Flags in Due Diligence Investigations
56:41 Challenges and Rewards of Starting a Firm in the Investigative Field
1:06:46 The Challenges of Intelligence: Israel-Hamas Conflict
In this special episode of ‘From the Editor’s Desk,’ host Tom Fox interviews Kyle Brasseur, who recently announced his retirement from Compliance Week, where he served as Editor-in-Chief. Kyle shares his journey from working in sports journalism to his pivot into the compliance field. He discusses his professional growth, the challenges and opportunities he faced, and the important stories covered during his tenure.
The episode also explores the critical role of journalism in the compliance sector and delves into some of Kyle’s most memorable moments, including his first published story and the development of the ‘Inside the Mind of the CCO’ survey. To round off, the discussion shifts to sports, particularly the performance and expectations of the Boston Celtics. Kyle reflects on his experiences and shares his thoughts on the future, expressing gratitude towards the compliance community for their unparalleled support.
Highlights Include:
Kyle’s Journey to Compliance Week
Transition from Sports Journalism to Compliance
Growth and Opportunities at Compliance Week
Importance of Compliance Journalism
Differences Between Sports and Compliance Journalism
What happens when two top compliance commentators get together? They talk about compliance, of course. Join Tom Fox and Kristy Grant-Hart in 2 Gurus Talk Compliance as they discuss the latest compliance issues in this week’s episode!
In this episode, Kristy and Tom discuss various pressing issues and developments in compliance. Topics include the introduction of a new regulator in Europe, concerns of AI employees about retaliation for raising alarms on potential threats, California’s new workplace violence compliance requirements, and unusual attempts to use live animals as payment in Florida.
The episode also highlights the significance of the Women in Compliance conference, the importance of crisis communication strategies, and the recent extension of the sanctions statute of limitations by the U.S. government. The conversation also covers networking for job seekers and the implications of the newly formed European Financial Crime Agency. The episode concludes with a bizarre payment method by our good friend, Florida Man.
Welcome to the Daily Compliance News. Each day, Tom Fox, the Voice of Compliance, brings you compliance-related stories to start your day. Sit back, enjoy a cup of morning coffee and listen to the Daily Compliance News. All from the Compliance Podcast Network.
Each day, we consider four stories from the business world: compliance, ethics, risk management, leadership, or general interest for the compliance professional.
