The act was perpetrated, he said, as part of a policy designed to defeat the customs laws. This policy entailed elaborate techniques of camouflage that were in his judgment clearly designed to conceal and mislead. When Amway's executives rejected their advice, the auditors resigned, choosing to give up their undoubtedly lucrative Amway account rather than to participate further in the deception they had discovered. Such manipulations are frequently used to reduce taxes and customs duties, as well as to circumvent currency exchange controls and other regulations. Of those who practice free enterprise, many have always disliked various forms of government control.
Few entrepreneurs view taxation itself, however, as justifying violation of the law.
Fraud and other forms of illegal business conduct short-circuit the marketplace, and thus corrode the free enterprise system itself, in which Amway vigorously believes. Fraudulent practices tend to divert business from the most efficient producers to those who are corrupt, thus undermining public confidence in the integrity of the marketplace. Such practices also put pressure on honest firms to compromise their standards in an effort to stay in business along with their less scrupulous competitors. The Reformed tradition has long sustained a strong respect for law and belief in the obligation to obey the law in almost all situations. But they insist that everyone in the organization learn from the important lessons this experience offers.