Zachary Horwitz, a virtually unknown actor in Hollywood, allegedly paid for his lavish lifestyle through a Ponzi scheme. According to the Wall Street Journal, Horwitz bilked investors out of $690 million by claiming he had licensing rights to movies that he was selling to Netflix and HBO! Since Ponzi schemes are sustained by obtaining money from new investors, Horwitz’s plot ...
William Rick Singer identified a college admissions niche when he discovered that wealthy people would pay incredible sums of money to assure their children get into the right schools. Singer found, through bribery and deception, a way to make millions by convincing key people within universities to accept his clients’ kids into their schools. Singer used fees he collected to ...
When Bill was younger, his business was struggling for survival about the time he attended a ministry retreat. During that retreat, the ministry founder challenged the attendees to pledge at least $1 million in their lifetime to support evangelism. Bill said it felt crazy, but even though he was broke, he made the pledge. Within 10 years, Bill had surpassed ...
The theory behind balancing a bank account seemed straightforward in college. But during my first auditing engagement, I worked two weeks trying to reconcile a payroll account. In theory it seemed easy, but with inadequate information it became impossible. When I told the audit partner, we were out of balance $900,000, he said, “Write off the difference. $900,000 is immaterial ...
According to the Wall Street Journal, Pete Stavros, an executive with KKR & Co., has spent much of his career promoting the idea of awarding stock to factory workers and other hourly employees. He believes stock ownership builds wealth for all employees and strengthens the culture. Stavros implemented his concept with a KKR company, called Gardner Denver. In a few ...
When I began my banking career, I spent time investigating bank frauds. One of the frauds I worked on was that of a bank president who determined his significant pay wasn’t enough. This president began producing false travel expense reports, claiming that he was driving to headquarters, four hours each way, multiple times a month. His spending habits, however, continued ...
When I was young, I found a sharp-looking Toyota Celica that had surprisingly low mileage for its years. After purchasing the car, I immediately began having trouble with the engine that didn’t make sense for such a low mileage car. When my mechanic grandfather inspected my car, he said, “Rick, you’ve been swindled. The odometer has been rolled back.” I ...
In one month’s time, Gamestop’s stock price went from $18 a share to over $340 at its peak. The price soared despite their revenue and profits being in decline. The stock price was driven up by a tribe of online small investors who decided to stand against the large hedge funds. Although Wall Street took notice, long-term, the true value ...
In my early 20’s, I often looked for short cuts to get rich. One day an acquaintance of mine shared with me a so called “business opportunity.” If I invested some money, I was going to get rich quick. This person’s enthusiasm and personal testimony of how much money he was making lured me in to foolishly investing. It ...
Years ago, I ran a consulting practice when a rapidly growing retail chain hired me to improve their cash flow and to resolve what the owner believed to be a “minor” tax problem. As I began asking for financial information, I began to understand the problem. Their bookkeeper had resigned, and they had ignored their bookkeeping for months. They had ...
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