The purpose of quiet money is to keep the recipient quiet during interrogations.
As the old saying goes, three people can keep a secret, as long as two of them are dead. Another method of ensuring a person’s silence or discretion is a form of bribery known as secret money. A corrupt politician might offer secret money to an official who discovers an illegal bribe, for example. The amount of money must be substantial enough to convince the other party to remain silent about the incident or suffer selective memory loss if asked.
A receiver of secret money may decide that they need additional funds to remain silent.
Hush money is rarely identified as such, because acknowledging the offer of a bribe for the silence of a witness can also be construed as criminal activity. Instead, the guilty or embarrassed party may qualify the cash payment as an employee performance bonus, a short-term loan, or a generous and unconditional gift. In general, the recipient of such secret money is expected to remain discreet about the true reasons for the sudden largesse or windfall. Silent money is often transferred under very particular circumstances and often with little or no paper record.
Hush money is paid to prevent someone from revealing that someone else has done something inappropriate or illegal.
Offering hush money to cover up an illegal or immoral act can be a very difficult proposition for the offender. Another interested party could offer the recipient even more money in exchange for the information he still has. The recipient may be offended by the indecent offer to buy their silence and still report the activity to authorities or other interested parties. A secret money receiver may also decide that he needs additional funds to remain silent. Therefore, the recipient of the secret money can easily become a blackmailer in their own right.
Homosexuals have been common targets of blackmailers in the past.
Quiet money is often used to keep an illegal act or embarrassing secret hidden from public scrutiny in the media or private scrutiny involving employers or family members. A cheating husband may offer hush money to prevent word of the affair from reaching his wife, for example. A drug-addicted celebrity might offer secret money to her personal assistant to prevent her behavior from being publicized by the media, or a corrupt politician might offer secret money to a staff member who witnesses an indiscretion.
All of these criminals must believe that they have offered enough financial inducement for the recipient to remain silent, no matter who questions them later. Often, however, the threat of imprisonment or heavy fines outweighs the benefits provided by secret money, and the recipient is much more willing to reveal what he knows to the proper authorities. This is the ultimate risk when it comes to hush money or other methods used to buy a person’s silence.