It's reads like the plot of a suspense novel - a board member of a huge publicly-held company meeting with a top Justice Department official to let him know that the company has been making payments to terrorist groups in Columbia. 

Only it really happened.   In this case, the company was Chiquita Brands International; the director was Roderick Hills (former Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission); and the Justice official was Michael Chertoff, who has since gone on to become head of Homeland Security.

The Washington Post has a great story [1] basd on court filings, detailing how Chiquita came to inform high U.S. officials of its ongoing payments to groups threatening its business in Colombia.

As the Post reports:

The company has already pleaded guilty to making $1.7 million in payments to the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC), and it agreed to pay a $25 million fine. But last week, lawyers for the former Chiquita executives sent letters to the Justice Department, asserting that their clients did not intentionally break the law but believed they were waiting for an answer from the highest levels of the Bush administration.

Chiquita argues that Bush administrattion officials acknowledged that the company's situation was "complicated".

Fascinating stuff.