Bribery

Bribery means offering something (such as money) to a person in return for some favour that is bad in some way.

A bribe is the money that is offered, and the verb is to bribe.  Active bribery is offering payment and asking for favour, and passive bribery is asking for payment and offering favour.  It is still called bribery if the trade is never done.

It is sometimes difficult to decide whether something is a bribe or just a reward. If a father pays his son for washing the car, that is just a reward or payment. However, if a parent pays a child for eating up its dinner, that might be thought of as a bribe because most people would think that is not right.

Bribery can be a crime in more serious cases, such as when a person offers money to hide their own wrongdoing. If a motorist is caught speeding by a policeman and offers the policeman money or a bottle of vodka to persuade him not to report him, that is bribery. If people want to take something into a country that is forbidden (or that would be taxed), they might offer the customs officer a bribe to persuade him to let them through. Some corrupt people will not do their jobs at all (like delivering a package) unless they get a bribe on top of their normal pay.

Those examples are clearly illegal (against the law) and are rare in many countries, but bribery is quite common in business in many parts of the world, where it is difficult to get anything done without offering bribes. Giving business people presents in the hope that they will want to do business may at times seem just like good manners, but in some cases, it may seem more like bribery.

People who are found to be taking bribes can sometimes lose their jobs. In some cases like the case of the motorist, both parties become criminals.

Related pages
 Blackmail

 References 

Category:Financial crimes
Category:Political corruption