• Auditor Liability in Market Meltdown?

    It should come as no shock to anyone that lots of fingers are being pointed related to Wall Street’s meltdown, and specifically related to the banking industry. And auditors are likely to find themselves the targets of lawsuits. Auditor malpractice […]

  • Cynthia Cooper’s book – Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower

    Cynthia Cooper, WorldCom whistleblower, is releasing her book in just few days. Extraordinary Circumstances: The Journey of a Corporate Whistleblower is her story. If it is anything like the speech I heard her give a few years ago at the […]

  • Pyramid Scheme Alert Reflects on 2007

    Multi-level marketing will go down in history as one of the great frauds of our times. It deceptively wraps its harmful scam with the real needs and desires of people today – additional income, stay home with the family, independence, […]

  • FDI Responds To Herbalife: “Enron Was On The NYSE Also”

    According to the November 5, 2007, Herbalife (NYSE:HLF) response to the Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI) report, the company states: “We have confidence in our direct-selling business model, our integrity and transparency as a NYSE-listed company and the fundamentals of our […]

  • Jeffrey Skilling of Enron fame asks for a new trial

    Jeffrey Skilling, the former CEO of Enron is appealing his federal conviction and arguing that his 24 year sentence is unconstitutional. In May 2006, Skilling was convicted of 19 counts of fraud, conspiracy and insider trading in the Enron case. […]

  • Jeffrey Skilling Gets a Long Prison Sentence

    Today a federal judge sentenced former Enron executive Jeffrey Skilling to 24 years and 4 months in prison for his conviction on federal charges of conspiracy, fraud and insider trading. Skilling, 52, was also fined over $18 million for his […]

  • Enron Executive Sentenced to Prison

    Andrew Fastow, former CFO of Enron, was sentenced to six years in federal prison today. Following his prison term, Fastow is required to serve two years of full-time community service. Fastow reached a plea deal in early 2004, in which […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Moments Before Enron’s Bankruptcy

    As I’ve mentioned several times before, Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald has been a fascinating read. He dug so far into the details of the demise of the company and its executives. The company was in a downward spiral, […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Did Skilling Read Before He Signed?

    While Enron and Dynegy executives were trying to work out the details of their pending merger, William McLucas, one of Enron’s outside lawyers began questioning Jeff Skilling about the Southampton partnership and LJM. These were two of the several entities […]

  • Conspiracy of Fools: Chewco was not separate from Enron

    Chewco, one of the special purpose entities (SPE) that Enron used to enhance its financial statements, was under examination by the Arthur Andersen accountants. Specifically, they came across a letter that indicated that six million dollars from JEDI (another SPE) […]