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It is called "wire fraud" a federal crime. The US has a ridiculous punishment for it [1]. Wire fraud is the favorite of the feds since it is loosely defined and easy to prosecute. Feds also use this law to get people to turn on others due to it's extreme punishments (you will sing). If you sign anything stating this is your only job - don't do this.

(1) that the defendant voluntarily and intentionally devised or participated in a scheme to defraud another out of money; (2) that the defendant did so with the intent to defraud; (3) that it was reasonably foreseeable that interstate wire communications would be used; and (4) that interstate wire communications were in fact used)

"Wire fraud is a federal crime that carries a sentence of not more than 20 years’ imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for organizations." [1]



How that works for folks with CXX titles? Whey often 'sit' in multiple boards. Also recently I was re-checking my contract, and there is nothing said there 'only job', I think that would be illegal to put in a contract.


Sitting on a board isn’t a job. It’s an advisory role that needs to be cleared by both the board your sitting on and your main company’s board.

And almost all contracts include a conflict of interest section. Perhaps a lowly startup might not.


What is the 'job' then? Then the only thing left is to switch from 'job' to 'sitting' to make the thing legal, right?


It's a "job" whether a lot of board members take it as seriously as they should or not. I'm (unpaid) on the board of a non-profit. But, yes, presumably if a CxO gets an offer to sit on the board of a major company, especially one in the same industry, they would seek the approval of their own board.


All you need to do is be open. Do not lie for money on the internet or mail. State you work for other companies, state you are on other boards, etc. When you lie to people for money is where things go really bad (at least in the US).

(wire/mail fraud 941. 18 U.S.C. 1343).


I'm very careful about things I do on the side that are related to my day job and I'm very public with my management. In general, those things are seen as positives. But if I created any heartburn, I would generally pull back--or escalate it if I felt strongly.

I'm not going to take a big contracting contract with a potential competitor without discussing it with someone.


Why one should disclose that? And how and why that's fraud? Do people in US disclose things like 'I flip burgers during the day' - 35 hours/week and also 'work as an office cleaner on weekends and evenings' - another 35 hours/week. Technically those are two times full employments. I'm not from US and may lack some details how it works there. My example above it not theoretical I know person who works like that,non-US location.


Those are not conflicts of interest. (Or shouldn't be.)

Working "full time" for Google and "full time" for some startup in a related area probably is. (If the startup is an unrelated area related to medicine maybe but I'd still expect both companies to be aware of the situation.)




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