ABSTRACT
It was a typical gray autumn day in Moscow in 1991. Greg Sadler, the director of international accounting for the US West International and Business Development Group (USWI), was walking through one of the many street bazaars looking for an egg-shaped Gorby doll. Upon finding one, the street vendor asked to be paid in U.S. dollars. The transaction, however, could not occur at his booth because the penalty for receiving hard currency was jail for both the vendor and Sadler. Sadler was instructed to put the currency under his armpit and another gentlemen would take the currency from him as Sadler wandered among the other vendors. The transaction was consummated without an arrest. Pausing to reflect on the incident, Sadler thought, “What a crazy place to do business!”
