Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadership

by Matulich; Serge

• ISBN13: 9781420072853
• ISBN10: 1420072854
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2008-06-24
• Publisher: CRC Press

Summary

It has been said that scammers and swindlers often display characteristics commonly attributed to good leadership. These include setting a vision, communicating it clearly, and motivating others to follow their lead. But when these skills are used by unconscionable people to satisfy greed, how can the average person recognize that foul play is afoot?Providing a unique account of frauds throughout modern history, Handbook of Frauds, Scams, and Swindles: Failures of Ethics in Leadershipcompiles narratives from around the world, including a number of highly-publicized cases. Leading financial and investigative experts have authored the individual chapters, yet the book maintains a reader-friendly style. The result is a text that is highly engaging and most importantly, provides regulators and investigators with an understanding of the motivations and behavior common to the individuals behind these life-damaging crimes.The book includes a wealth ofstories, including famous cases such as Ponzi, ZZZZ Best, Enron, Parmalat, and Vivendi, along with lesser-known scandals involving both corporations and individuals. There is also a section on frauds perpetrated for motives other than financial rewards, including instances when the government performed experiments on humans without their knowledge or consent, as well as stories on frauds involving science and religion.A section detailing the Arthur Anderson debacle discusses the compounding of a fraud when the supposed watchdogplays a complicit role. And recognizing that not every issue is black or white, the book also explores whether a hoax perpetrated in the name of a noble cause can ever be justified.By reviewing the tactics used by swindlers and the motivations that turned good people crooked, investigators and others will come to recognize the red flags that accompany unscrupulous behavior. In doing so, they may well learn how head off potential disaster.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. xi
The Editors	p. xiii
Contributors	p. xv
About the Contributors	p. xvii
Introduction	p. xxi
Survival of the Fittest and Smartest
The Nature of Honesty: Exploring Examples of the Literary Hoax in America	p. 3
Price Adjustments under the Table	p. 17
Greedy Individuals
Charles Ponzi	p. 35
Farm-Town Boy to International Fugitive	p. 45
Oscar Hartzell and the Estate of Sir Francis Drake	p. 55
A Concrete Example of Fraud at the Fort Worth Independent School District	p. 63
My (S)old Kentucky Home: The Erpenbeck Homebuilder Case	p. 73
ZZZZ Best: Taking Investors to the Cleaners	p. 81
The City Slickers Share Price Scam	p. 93
Martin Frankel	p. 101
Scientific Cheating
Human Experimentation Involving Radiation, Syphilis, and Scurvy	p. 113
Doctoring the Data: Ethical Failures in Medical Research	p. 129
From Fraud to Holocaust: The Protocols of the Elders of Zion	p. 141
Slimy Behavior
The China Aviation Oil Scandal	p. 151
The SH Oil and Gas Exploration Scandal	p. 161
The Spanish Cooking Oil Scandal: Toxic Oil Syndrome or Cover-Up?	p. 183
Fraud in the Corporate World
Adelphia Communications: The Public Company That Became a Private Piggy Bank: A Case of Fraud in the Rigas Family Firm	p. 191
High Stakes and High Energy at Enron: The Meteoric Rise and Fall of the "Crooked E"	p. 207
The Inside Story of the Parmalat Scandal: Family Leadership Gone Wrong in a Multinational Group	p. 221
Royal Ahold: Leadership Failure and "Big Bath" Accounting	p. 237
The Vivendi Debacle: The Fallen Superstar	p. 249
Watchdogs Caught Napping
The Fall of a Giant: The Case of Arthur Andersen & Co.	p. 265
The Fall of San Diego	p. 285
United Airlines: Pensions, Profits, and Ethics	p. 297
Unhealthy Developments
The HealthSouth "Family"	p. 315
Richard Scrushy: The Rise and Fall of the "King of Health Care"	p. 337
See No Evil; Hear No Evil; Speak No Evil: Ernst & Young's Ethical Responsibility for the HealthSouth Fraud	p. 355
Index	p. 373
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