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- The Crédit Mobilier scandal (French pronunciation: [kʁedi mɔbilje]) was a two-part fraud conducted from 1864 to 1867 by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Crédit Mobilier of America construction company in the building of the eastern portion of the First transcontinental railroad. The story was broken by The New York Sun during the 1872 campaign of Ulysses S. Grant. A new company, Crédit Mobilier of America, was created by Union Pacific executives to actually build the line albeit at inflated construction costs. Though the railroad cost only $50 million to build, Crédit Mobilier billed $94 million and Union Pacific executives pocketed the excess $44 million. Then, part of the excess cash and $9 million in discounted stock was used to bribe several Washington politicians for laws, funding, and regulatory rulings favorable to the Union Pacific. The US government gave the Union Pacific empty land to sell in a checkerboard pattern, keeping every other plot. Eventually the fertile land was sold to farmers who shipped out the crops by rail. To get the new project funded, Washington loaned the Union Pacific federal bonds that could be used as collateral when the railroad needed to borrow money. The Union Pacific --like a third of all the nation's railroads, declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. By late 1897 the national economy was quickly reviving and profitability was at hand. An agreement was reached to pay the US Treasury the entire amount of principal and accrued interest on the bonds. The government received every dollar it wanted from the Union Pacific. The scandal negatively affected the careers of many politicians and nearly bankrupted Union Pacific. For decades partisan newspapers used the scandal to create widespread public distrust of Republicans, Congress, and the federal government during the Gilded Age. (en)
- O escândalo do Crédit Mobilier, que chamou a atenção do público em 1872, foi uma fraude em duas partes conduzida de 1864 a 1867 pela Union Pacific Railroad e a construtora Crédit Mobilier of America na construção da parte oriental da Primeira Ferrovia Transcontinental. A história foi contada pelo The New York Sun durante a campanha de 1872 de Ulysses S. Grant. Primeiro, uma empresa fraudulenta, Crédit Mobilier of America, foi criada por executivos da Union Pacific para inflar enormemente os custos de construção. Embora a construção da ferrovia tenha custado apenas US$ 50 milhões, o Crédit Mobilier faturou US$ 94 milhões e os executivos da Union Pacific embolsaram o excesso de US$ 44 milhões. Então, parte do excesso de caixa e US$ 9 milhões em ações com desconto foram usados para subornar vários políticos de Washington por leis, financiamento e decisões regulatórias favoráveis à Union Pacific. O escândalo afetou negativamente a carreira de muitos políticos e quase levou a Union Pacific à falência. O escândalo causou desconfiança generalizada do público no Congresso e no governo federal durante a Idade de Ouro. (pt)
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