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We live in an era of fraud. That’s the business model. To suggest that there is any moral or ethical aspect to anything that’s going on now is to be completely naive. Max Keiser, Rotterdam Reinvent Money conference 26th September 2015
All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it. H L Mencken, 1880-1956, US editor
Goldman Sachs eventually settled its fraud case by paying an unprecedented $550 million fine. Meltdown: The Secret History of the Financial Global Collapse IV: After the Fall, CBC 2011
One man masterminds the largest gold nugget scam in history. He outwitted scientists, analysts and the world’s leading investors. He turned a penny stock into a billion dollar scam and made himself millions. Masterminds e17: Fool’s Gold, History 2003
Back in Indonesia the prospector kept uncovering more and more gold. ibid.
There was no gold. Not one ounce. ibid.
He declares that Bre-X has the largest gold deposit in the world. Having built Bre-X into a company worth $6,000,000,000 and with its stock price at nearly $300 a share it’s time for De Guzman to start cashing in. ibid.
What he doesn’t know is the Indonesian government is about to make a move to reveal his scam. ibid.
Not one investor has ever been compensated. ibid.
He was the mastermind behind the biggest retail fraud in US history. And used techniques investigators had never seen before. And vanished with hundreds of millions of dollars. Masterminds s33: Crazy Eddie, History 2004
Crazy Eddie expanded at a phenomenal rate. What began as a single outlet in Brooklyn had by 1987 grown into a vast empire of thirty-nine superstores. ibid.
The Crazy Eddie empire was a massive fraud. ibid.
By 1978 Eddie and his family are skimming one dollar for every five they bring in, reaping millions. ibid.
Armed with 13 apparently successful stores he sits down to seal the deal with Wall Street. ibid.
With his family life in tatters, Eddie’s business problems now worsen. ibid.
The new owner quickly discovers the inventory fraud: a staggering $80,000,000 worth of non-existent merchandise. ibid.
He flees to Israel ... Eddie Antar loses his fight for extradition, and is sent back to America to face justice. Eventually Antar admits to seventeen counts of fraud. He owes $150 million in fines and restitution. And close to $1 billion in civil law suits. He goes to prison for eight years. bid.
Organised crime has moved into our financial markets. Thousands of victims across Britain have lost their livelihoods. The most vulnerable are the prime targets. Tonight, the city of London police investigated a gang making millions. Fraud Squad I, ITV 2011
Fraud is the new goldmine for criminal gangs. 3.2 million people in Britain have become victims. Organised crime’s latest enterprise is to con people into purchasing shares in companies that don’t exist. ibid.
The City of London police have a specialist department tackling fraudsters nationally and internationally. They have identified twelve hundred boiler rooms making criminals over three hundred million pounds per year. ibid.
Criminal gangs share the lists of people they have conned. ibid.
The sale of fake shares requires a sophisticated network. [George] Abrue’s criminal organisation uses bogus websites, shell offices, glossy brochures and mass-market emails. ibid.
George Abrue Gang London Sweden Barcelona: Organised crime has moved into our financial markets. Thousands of victims across Britain have lost their livelihoods. The most vulnerable are the prime targets. Tonight, the city of London police investigated a gang making millions. ibid.
The City of London police have a specialist department tackling fraudsters nationally and internationally. They have identified 1,200 boiler rooms making criminals over £300 million per year. ibid.
The City of London Police have arrested nine people. They are accused of selling millions of pounds of fake shares to hundreds of British victims. Fraud Squad II
Ringleader Abrue has been arrested in Sweden for assault. ibid.
Fraud is one of the fastest growing crimes in Britain. ibid.
Nine suspects are charged with sixteen offences. ibid.
Detectives have seized £1 million in assets from the gang. The victims have lost £20 million. ibid.
Share sale, boiler room, hedge-fund or bond fraud involves bogus stockbrokers, usually based overseas, cold calling people to pressure them into buying shares that promise high returns. In reality, the shares are either worthless or non-existent.
You are usually contacted out of the blue by a professional-sounding stockbroker who offers you investment opportunities that seem too good to be true. You are also promised free research reports, special discounts and ‘secret’ stock tips.
In reality, the fraudsters are cold-calling as many people as possible, persuading them to invest in shares that are either non-existent, or so worthless they are impossible to sell.
The fraudsters may provide false share certificates and other documents to make the investments seem credible.
Once the fraudsters have squeezed whatever money they can from investors, they quickly disappear. Action Fraud online article
1953 ... Scientists are about to expose the most audacious fraud in the history of archaeology ... In November 1912 a startling discovery was announced of the remains of what was claimed to be the earliest known human being. The finds were made in a gravel pit in the village of Piltdown in Sussex. Days that Shook the World s2e8: Dinosaurs and Duplicity, BBC 2004
Since the 1950s several of Charles Dawson’s earlier archaeological finds have also been re-examined and proven to be forgeries. ibid.
The most daring fraud in the history of science. ibid.
Pope’s Top Bankers in Laundering Probe … the pope’s top two bankers have been placed under investigation for suspected money laundering. FT online headline Guy Dinmore 21st September 2010