"Life ruined, reputation gone ...."
I have to question that.
The 'honor code' says 'I will not lie, cheat, or steal, nor will I tolerate those who do.' Far too many folks seem to believe 'it's commendable to lie, cheat, and steal- on my behalf!'
Let's look at some very real examples, well documented, that illustrate the point:
K-Mart once did auto servicing, and their shops all had nice posters (out of customer view) declaring their 'code of ethics.' Things like 'no working on personal cars.' What was notable was that all 21 points in the code addressed the employee's relationship with K-Mart- and none were directed towards the relationship between K-Mart and the customers. Several States' Attorneys were able to convict K-Mart of systematically defrauding customers. The preferred methods were to 'prescribe' unnecessary work, and to charge for work that was never done.
Allstate Insurance once had an agent who misled / directed a customer to submit a claim after a deadline passed. The claim was denied for missing the deadline. Legal actions that followed proved this was deliberate, systematic, and the courts held it to be unfair. Allstate appealed to the circuit court level; the Supremes declined to hear the case. What's relevant is that, by the time the case was finished, the dishonest agent had continued to rise through the company ranks, all the way to being vice-president. I guess he was just their sort of guy.
The predecessor conglomerate of the firm known today as Tyco used their various positions in code-making bodies to get the ASME to issue a 'letter ruling' that literally declared a competitor's product to be a code breaker. The suit that followed proved the corruption of the process by ITT, and the fraud committed. ITT's various entities all made rather generous settlements, and the ASME was nearly destroyed. Nevertheless, no one within ITT was punished for this cabal they had formed. Considering the senior positions, I suspect these crooks were just the sort of men ITT valued.
Finally, the Steel Tube Institute had no problem 'stuffing the ballot box' in their attempt to prevent plastic conduit from entering the NEC. I am not aware of anyone at the STI even admitting that their actions were dishonorable.
Face it: Honesty is not a virture recognized everywhere.