Merckx - corruption charges!

[hiero2]

www.cyclingnews.com/news/merckx-indicted-in-corruption-case

Wah. Give me a break - he gave the cop a discount bike in exchange for finding out how much some competitor's bikes cost? The article was not clear - but let me guess - the cop's department bought a bunch of bikes from a competitor and Eddy wanted to know how much they paid.

And the payoff wasn't even a FREE bike - it was just a discounted bike! Please, they need to give us a break. Yes, such an action constitutes corruption. However, this is on such a small scale that it doesn't EVEN deserve the legal cost to prosecute it! Definitely belongs in the theatre of the absurd in my book, especially given how much real corruption is out there.

 

[JayKosta]

It is probably typical 'local small town politics' - someone sniffing around for dirt regarding the police.
Or someone upset by seeing the police chief on a new Merckx bike and asking questions...

Jay Kosta
Endwell NY USA

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

Hahhahhah! In the United States giant special interest groups, be that corporations or otherwise, frequently write their own bills they want in Congress, then give the Congressman a ton of money to their re-election campaign so that the bill will get passed. Happens so often it's the norm. And Eddy gets busted for giving a bike discount?!

Good Lord, what's become of the world?

 

[rrj1170]

Merckx Corruption Case

According to the Flanders News website, it appears a bid for 48 bikes was let by a local police dept. Allegedly, a member of the department notified Merckx or someone in the company of the bids submitted by rival mfg's. With this knowledge, Merckx allegedly undercut them and put in the winning bid. In return, the city official was given a good price on one of Eddy's bikes. Apparently, there were more than bikes involved namely clothing and police vehicle. The Flanders News article is much more informative than the Cycling News blurb.

 

[hiero2]

. . . The Flanders News article is much more informative than the Cycling News blurb.

Got a link, by any chance?

 

[hiero2]

NVM - a quick google found it, I think.

http://www.deredactie.be/cm/vrtnieuws.english/news/120327_merckx

Sven Mary, who is representing several police officers, told the VRT: "It's a case of passive and active corruption. It’s a very diverse case. Bicycles are involved but also sports clothes and police vehicles. More is involved than the bicycles ordered by Anderlecht police.”

Eddy might be involved in the sports clothing, but I think the vehicles are not part of his business - so i will guess that the speaker, Sven Mary, was referring to a larger culture of corruption in the police force, and not actions by Merckx.

The article does point out that Merckx used the information in an anti-competitive fashion to win the bid. That does make it a tad more serious in my book. However, since I have worked in the infrastructure business, selling our services to government entities around the globe - and given the standard practices that I have witnessed among many government employees and the contractors, I would still say that Merckx's role was only a single flake on a whole head of dandruff. Not enough for me to shake my head about.

But, lest I forget, thanks for finding the larger article in the Flanders News site!

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Unless Boucar did something illegal (e.g. like breaking and entry and stealing a computer with information on it, to obtain the information he gave Eddy, to which Eddy would be an accomplice) then so what?

 

[ElChingon]

Oh oh! Does it mean I'm in trouble for getting a deal on my frame because I know somebody who owes somebody a favor because I did some work on the side for the other guy who owes my shop's guy?

 

[BroDeal]

Unless Boucar did something illegal (e.g. like breaking and entry and stealing a computer with information on it, to obtain the information he gave Eddy, to which Eddy would be an accomplice) then so what?

Usually people with that kind of knowledge, no matter how it was obtained, have a duty to keep it secret to maintain the integrity of the bidding process. The government entity wants companies to bid their best price, not a hair's breadth below other bidders' prices.

This type of corruption is a serious matter in large U.S. cities, and it is treated as so. It is rampant in smaller cities that do not yet have the regulation and law to keep the process honest, so councilman X's brother-in-law always seems to put in the low bid for city projects.

 

[on3m@n@rmy]

Oh oh! Does it mean I'm in trouble for getting a deal on my frame because I know somebody who owes somebody a favor because I did some work on the side for the other guy who owes my shop's guy?

No, ElChin, you are safe. The dude who gave you the great deal on the frame is in deep do-do.

Usually people with that kind of knowledge, no matter how it was obtained, have a duty to keep it secret to maintain the integrity of the bidding process. The government entity wants companies to bid their best price, not a hair's breadth below other bidders' prices.

This type of corruption is a serious matter in large U.S. cities, and it is treated as so. It is rampant in smaller cities that do not yet have the regulation and law to keep the process honest, so councilman X's brother-in-law always seems to put in the low bid for city projects.

Well, yeah. Or just read Alpe's post here. But in comparision the examples you and Alpe give are on a far grander scale than getting a steal for a deal on a bike frame. If Belgium, or where ever it was that fingered Merckx, has the budget for police to spend time at that level of investigation, then I'd hate to pay their tax rates. Our tax rates here are bad enough without having to chase down bargain basement bike frame peddlers.

 

[ElChingon]

The BroDeal, the KickBack, the Keep It in the Family, the Keep it in the Union, the Keep it in the Country/State/City deal are here and will be here till the end of time. No amount of laws will ever null and void those deals, sure some will get slapped on the wrist but its going nowhere, its the way us humans operate or at least us normal humans.

Unfair? Yup, it sure is, get over it because you know the moment you are confronted with it/offered it you go along with it.