Ethics?
Yes this is unethical
I suspect the middleman just wants to pay their bills/mortgage and keep a roof over their head and perhaps that of his/her family and you cant blame them, even if it is unethical
The real unethical thing here is the disingenuous nature of money
I remember a story about a guy who outsourced his own job to some guy in china and then sat in the office watching cat videos while the chinese guy did all the work for a lesser fee
He was commended for is ingenuity.
Can you see the point I am making here?
There is a connection if you look hard enough
Ethics is a woolly subject, just like the law
Example, the Iraq war was illegal
Then it wasnt
Attorney general changed their mind
See?
Woolly