"I was working for the Dept of Defense in the contracting department in a Middle Eastern country.  Over $250,000 worth of equipment ordered by US Air Force agencies was held up in customs on the other side of the country port.  The politics of the time were such that the US did not want to rock the boat.

As contracting officer, I thought I'd figure out how to get the equipment released.  One requirements had to do with a release document from a high US official that was notarized.  The document was time sensitive.  One of the finance offices fell through on their end, and had to delay by one day.  Of course . . the document would now be null and void, and guess what?  The US official was no longer available. 

I had no authority to do this but I called the legal office on the West end and said REDO the whole document, whatever you have to do and change that date for the next day.  He asked me a bunch of questions, he was an attorney after all.  So, I instructed him on how to cut, paste and copy, and redo the official seal.  In essence ¦we falsified the document.

I felt I had no choice. This process of negotiations to even get to the point of getting the equipment out of customs was over several months.  Lining up and coordinating all of these agencies took a very long time, and I wasn't about to blow it on a stupid piece of legal required document.

You may ask all the what-ifs. But there are only two of us that know that the document was falsified--myself and the attorney.  I received an award for my work in getting the equipment released. I did not pay for those goods, the taxpayers of the US did. And if it were my money, I'd have done the same.  If I had not been able to secure the release of the equipment, it was going to go into the Middle Eastern country's local market.  They were not going to return it to the vendor.

So, do you think it is ever ethical to falsify a document?  Or rather, could it be possible that falsifying a document could lead to a greater good?"