• Are We Really Getting Tough on Financial Fraud?

    Consumer outrage about “bailout madness” and the proliferation of Ponzi schemes and investment fraud is fueling a push for greater oversight and regulation. The government is talking tough, saying that there will be more prosecutions for financial fraud forthcoming.. That […]

  • Red Flags Apparent in Alleged Ponzi Scheme

    Recent news of the alleged $50 billion Ponzi scheme perpetrated by investment advisor Bernard L. Madoff has done nothing to ease the fears of investors who have been annihilated by the stock market over the last couple of months.How does […]

  • For Students and Job Seekers: Becoming a Fraud Investigator

    I routinely get emails from students, job seekers, or the gainfully employed who want to make a career change… all asking me for advice on getting into the field of forensic accounting and fraud investigation. Here are my top three […]

  • Fraud and the Wall Street Financial Bailout

    The question I have been asked more over the last few weeks than any other question is: “How big of a role has fraud played in this Wall Street bailout?” I wish that was an easy question to answer. It’s […]

  • The Financial Crisis: No Downside for Executives Who Have Been Paid Millions

    It’s easy to blame short sellers for troubles in the stock market. After all, they make money when a stock’s price goes down. That’s bad, right? No, not really. It’s no worse than the longs holding stock and hoping a […]

  • Expert Fraud Investigation Hits Amazon.com

    My next book, Expert Fraud Investigation: A Step-by-Step Guide won’t be out until February 9, 2009, but it’s already on Amazon.com and available for pre-order. From the product description: A fraud investigation is aimed at examining evidence to determine if […]

  • Identity Theft a Huge Problem for Small Businesses

    TheStreet.com By Lan Nguyen Identity theft is a multibillion-dollar problem affecting 8 million people a year. But experts say it isn’t just a consumer issue. In the thousands of cases prosecuted by the U.S. Secret Service in the past six […]

  • Preserving Some Overstock.com History Again

    From time-to-time, I like to cut and paste from the ever-entertaining stock message boards about Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK). I admit to being a casual observer. I don’t post on those message boards, but do read on occasion. And this exchange was […]

  • Perspectives on the SEC’s No Action Letter to Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK)

    The discussion of the Securities & Exchange Commission’s “no action” letter to Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) continues around the blogosphere. On the one side we have the supporters of the company and wacky CEO Patrick Byrne (whos says “yipikaye” in response to […]

  • From Whistleblower to Charges of Financial Fraud

    The New York Times published a very interesting story about Joseph Ripp, the former AOL CFO who went from being a whistleblower, to finding himself with civil charges of financial fraud. Ripp became a whistleblower in May 2001 when he […]