Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Note
In the interest of full disclosure, I taught a number of seminars for
DCI during the 1980s and the next decade, too, because I had lived
in Massachusetts not far from where DCI had its facilities.
The successes of DCI and Schussel were significant enough so that in 1998,
Schussel was named an entrepreneur of the year by the IEEE Computer Society.
To show the esteem in which he was held, the other recipients in 1998 included
Bill Gates, Paul Allen, Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak (the A-list of Silicon Valley
entrepreneurs).
Later, in the 1990s, the internet began to erode the stand-up seminar business.
Online “webinars” became popular and live events declined. After the terrorist at-
tacks on September 11, 2001, many companies cut back on air travel and many
professionals became reluctant to fly. In fact, air travel became much less enjoy-
able than it had been due to increased security, which necessitated arriving at air-
ports hours prior to departure.
However, worse things were in store for DCI. In 2004, Schussel was indicted
by the IRS for tax evasion. The IRS claimed that about $8 million in unreported
income had been diverted to a Bermuda subsidiary and then put into other ac-
counts without being reported as income. Although Schussel pleaded innocent,
Ron Gomes, who had been President of DCI, pleaded guilty to income tax evasion.
There were other indictments, too. Schussel was eventually found guilty and sen-
tenced to three-and-a-half years in federal prison.
In part because of these criminal proceedings and in part because the internet
had eroded seminar training, DCI, after a change of names, ceased operations in
2004.
Note
While running DCI, Schussel had been something of a philanthrop-
ist. His experience in federal prison showed him how difficult it
was for ex-convicts to reenter normal life and find work outside of
prison. As a result, Schussel began a series of blogs and other ef-
forts to assist former prisoners in finding work and a new place in
society.
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