Fraud Headlines
2018 Articles
August
Cafeteria Workers Stole Nearly $500,000 In Lunch Money From Schools, Police Say
For years, cash was disappearing from cafeteria registers at the high school and middle school, apparently unbeknown to school officials. Nearly $500,000 was pilfered from 2012 through 2017, the authorities said. (New York Times)
Kenya Charges Top Officials With Fraud Over New $3 Bln Railway
A Kenyan court on Monday charged the heads of the agency that manages public land and of the state railway with fraud over land allocation for a new $3 billion train line linking the capital with East Africa’s biggest port. (Reuters)
Oracle Accused Of Defrauding Investors On Cloud Sales Growth
The investor leading the case, the City of Sunrise Firefighters’ Pension Fund, claimed Oracle engaged in coercion and threats to sell its cloud-computing products, creating an unsustainable model that fell apart. (Bloomberg)
Financial Damage From Special Fraud Cases Down In Japan But More Juveniles Implicated
A significant increase in juvenile offenders involved in so-called special fraud cases inflicted ¥17.49 billion in financial damage in the first half of 2018, National Police Agency data showed Thursday, although financial losses stemming from such cases dropped for the fourth consecutive year over the January-June period. (Japan Times)
Paul Manafort Fraud Trial: Manafort Accused Of Amassing "Secret Income"
Paul Manafort orchestrated a multimillion-dollar conspiracy to evade U.S. tax and banking laws, leaving behind a trail of lies as he lived a lavish lifestyle, prosecutors said as they laid out their case against the former Trump campaign chairman Tuesday. (CBS)
July
How an Ex-Cop Rigged McDonald’s Monopoly Game and Stole Millions
Jerome Jacobson and his network of mobsters, psychics, strip-club owners, and drug traffickers won almost every prize for 12 years, until the FBI launched Operation ‘Final Answer.’ (Daily Beast)
SEC Data Analysis Tool Uncovers Insider Trading By Executive
A senior executive at Alliance Fiber Optic Products agreed to settle charges that he made nearly $200,000 in illicit profits by trading on inside information in advance of three disappointing earnings announcements by the company. (Compliance Week)
Canada Housing Agency Pushes For Better Income Checks To Catch Fraud
Canada’s housing agency has asked the country’s tax authority to take a “more direct and formal role” verifying income claimed on mortgage applications, part of a two-year plan to tackle mortgage fraud. (Reuters)
Who Pays When Indonesian Ride-Sharing Fraud Goes Full Throttle?
Drivers are using various techniques, including fake GPS apps found on the dark web, to inflate their numbers and get undeserved bonuses. (South China Morning Post)
Samsung Biologics To Face Criminal Probe On Accounting Fraud
South Korea’s top financial regulator said it had found intentional breaches of accounting rules at Samsung Biologics, the contract drugmaking unit once seen as Samsung’s future growth engine. (The Seattle Times)
Investors Flee Danske Bank Following Money Laundering Allegations
Danske Bank is facing backlash from a money laundering scandal that has now resulted in it losing client Unity Technologies, a video game startup that is valued at $2.6 billion. (PYMNTS.com)
Najib Razak, Malaysia’s Ex-Prime Minister, Is Arrested Amid Corruption Inquiry
Najib Razak, the former prime minister of Malaysia who was ousted in an election two months ago, was arrested by anticorruption officials on Tuesday, amid an investigation involving billions of dollars diverted from a state investment fund. (New York Times)
PwC Must Pay FDIC $625M For Failing To Uncover Fraud Scheme
A federal judge on Monday said PricewaterhouseCoopers must pay the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $625.3 million in damages for failing to uncover a fraud scheme between its client Colonial Bank and the mortgage lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker. (New York Post)
Hitachi Affiliate Discovers Data Fraud Of 60,000 Batteries
An affiliate of Japanese electronics giant Hitachi admitted Friday it had falsified data for 60,000 industrial batteries, the latest in a series of similar scandals that has battered the country's reputation for quality. (Industry Week)
Con Artists Are Fleecing Uber Drivers
Apparently the scam has hit thousands of ride-hail drivers, and millions of dollars have been diverted from their accounts, according to a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office in New York's federal court last November. (CNET)
June
U.S. Charges Hundreds In Major Healthcare Fraud, Opioid Crackdown
The U.S. Justice Department on Thursday announced charges against 601 people including doctors for taking part in healthcare frauds that resulted in over $2 billion in losses and contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic in some cases. (Reuters)
TCI, Axon Accuse India Real Estate Fund Of $1.5 Billion Fraud
Two high-profile hedge funds accused one of India’s biggest real estate developers of defrauding its foreign investors out of as much as $1.5 billion, potentially one of the largest private equity scams ever. (Bloomberg)
Sara Netanyahu Charged With Fraud And Breach Of Trust
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, was served a slew of fraud charges Thursday in the so-called “Prepared Food Affair,” for misusing public funds to order catered meals at their official Jerusalem residence, officials said. (New York Post)
West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Charged With Fraud
West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Allen Loughry was arrested on Wednesday and charged with 22 federal criminal counts including fraud, witness tampering and misuse of government property. (Reuters)
Theranos Founder Elizabeth Holmes Indicted On Fraud Charges
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced founder of Theranos, the lab testing company that promised to revolutionize health care, and its former president, Ramesh Balwani, were indicted on Friday on charges of defrauding investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars as well as deceiving hundreds of patients and doctors. (New York Times)
Fyre Festival Founder Billy McFarland Has Been Arrested Again On Additional Fraud Charges
The promoter of a failed music festival in the Bahamas who is awaiting sentencing on fraud charges was arrested on new fraud charges Tuesday, leading a judge to order his detention. (Time)
FBI Busts International Email Fraud Ring That Stole Millions
The alleged email scammers, spread across seven countries, would target midsize businesses, looking to trick employees who had access to company finances. (CNET)
Philippine Police Arrest Nearly 500 In Alleged Online Fraud
Philippine police arrested nearly 500 people, including eight Israeli nationals, who they say were involved in an online investment fraud that victimized people overseas, including in Australia and South Africa, police said. (ABC)
Australia's Biggest Bank Hit With Record Fine For Money-Laundering Scandal
Austrac, a regulator that focuses on financial crime, said Monday that CBA would pay $700 million Australian dollars ($534 million) to settle a lawsuit after the bank admitted it failed to observe laws to prevent money laundering and financing of terrorism. (CNN)
Former State Street Executive Faces U.S. Fraud Trial
A former executive at State Street Corp went on trial on Monday on U.S. charges that he participated in a scheme to defraud the bank’s clients by charging them secret commissions on billions of dollars in trades. (Reuters)
Bumble Bee Tuna Price-Fixing Case, Like Starkey Fraud Prosecution, Could Change White-Collar Prosecutions
The Lischewski indictment is what elevates the Bumble Bee investigation into a special category of white-collar crime cases, for he’s one of the rare CEOs to be brought to book in recent years for corporate wrongdoing. (Star Tribune)
May
A Record $340 Million Lost To Fraud In Australia, Says Latest ACCC Report
More than A$340 million was reported lost by Australian victims of fraud schemes in 2017, up A$40 million on the previous year. (Conversation)
Buyer Beware: Hundreds Of Bitcoin Wannabes Show Hallmarks Of Fraud
A Wall Street Journal analysis of 1,450 cryptocurrency offerings reveals rampant plagiarism, identity theft and promises of improbable returns. (Wall Street Journal)
Malaysia Premier Says 1MDB Fund Wrongdoing Larger Than Thought
Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said more wrongdoing occurred at state fund 1MDB than was publicly known, as he accelerates efforts to reopen a probe into the scandal-plagued company and the actions of his predecessor. (Bloomberg)
Indian Police Charge Former PNB Boss And 10 Staff In Fraud Case
Indian police on Monday charged the former head of Punjab National Bank (PNB) and 10 other officials at the state-run lender in the country’s largest-ever bank fraud case, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. (Reuters)
Chinese Tycoon Gets 18 Years In Prison For $10 Billion Fraud
Wu Xiaohui, the Chinese tycoon who rose to international prominence to buy the Waldorf Astoria Hotel, was sentenced to 18 years in prison after having pleaded guilty to defrauding investors. (New York Times)
BSO Detective Follows Trail From Squatter Complaint To $11.8 Million Fraud Case
What began in June 2016 as a complaint of squatters living in a Weston home culminated Tuesday in the arrest of six people in what police call an $11.8 million scheme to defraud. (NBC Miami)
Ex-Volkswagen C.E.O. Charged With Fraud Over Diesel Emissions
The Volkswagen emissions scandal reached the highest echelons of the company on Thursday after its former chief executive was charged with conspiracy in the company’s rigging of diesel vehicles to feign compliance with federal pollution standards. (New York Times)
How Criminals Steal $37 Billion A Year From America’s Elderly
Telephone pitchers, online scammers and even family members target the most vulnerable among us. (Bloomberg)
Former Autonomy Executive Convicted Of Fraud Over Role In $10.3bn Takeover By Hewlett Packard
Sushovan Hussain was convicted of 16 counts of wire and securities fraud for artificially inflating Autonomy’s valuation before it was bought out by Hewlett Packard. (Independent)
April
European Union Suspects Tax Fraud At China's New Gateway To Europe
European Union and Italian authorities are investigating suspected wide-scale tax fraud by Chinese criminal gangs importing goods via Greece's largest port of Piraeus, a trade gateway between China and Europe, officials said. (Economic Times)
Lance Armstrong Settles Federal Fraud Case For $5 Million
Lance Armstrong agreed to pay $5 million to settle claims that he defrauded the federal government by using performance-enhancing drugs when the United States Postal Service sponsored his cycling team. (New York Times)
Ex-UBS Trader Accused Of Spoofing Robots Fights Charges Of Fraud
In science fiction, the machines are usually out to get the people. In the case of former UBS Group AG trader Andre Flotron, it’s the other way around. (Bloomberg)
Former Congressman Stockman Convicted Of Fraud In Texas
A federal jury in Houston on Thursday found former Republican U.S. Representative Steve Stockman guilty of fraud and siphoning off hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign funds for his personal use. (Reuters)
Two Goans, Living In Dubai, Sentenced To 517 Years Jail For Running Ponzi Scheme
Two Goans have been sentenced to 517 years in jail for running a fake investment racket worth more than $13 million in Dubai. (Indian Express)
Cryptocurrency Fraud Widespread, Warns Regulator
Of 32 cryptocurrency investment promoters investigated in four weeks, at least five failed to tell would-be investors about the risks while guaranteeing returns of up to 40 percent a month, the Texas State Securities Board cautioned. (Forbes)
China Injects $9.7 Billion Into Anbang After Fraud Alleged
China is injecting 60.8 billion yuan ($9.7 billion) into Anbang Insurance Group Co. as it attempts to contain the fallout after the company’s former chairman was accused of masterminding a multibillion dollar fraud. (Bloomberg)
Founders Of A Cryptocurrency Backed By Floyd Mayweather Charged With Fraud By SEC
Two founders of a cryptocurrency firm that was endorsed by champion boxer Floyd Mayweather have been charged with carrying out a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO) by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. (CNBC)
Indian Banks Reported At Least One Fraud Every Hour In 2017
Between April 2016 and March 2017, Indian lenders reported 12,533 cases of fraud, totaling Rs18,170 crore ($2.79 billion), according to a report by Institutional Investor Advisory Services, a proxy advisory firm. (Quartz India)
Megachurch Pastor With Ties To George W. Bush Indicted On $3.5 Million Fraud
Pastor Kirbyjon Caldwell and a business partner, Gregory Smith, sold millions of dollars of worthless Chinese bonds, telling investors to "remain faithful and that they would receive their money," according to documents obtained by ABC Houston station KTRK. (ABC)
March
Barclays Agrees To Pay $2bn To Settle U.S. Fraud Case
The settlement follows a three-year investigation into allegations that the bank caused billions of dollars of losses to investors by “engaging in a fraudulent scheme” to sell Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS) between 2005 and 2007. (Guardian)
Angola: Ex-President's Son Charged With Fraud
Jose Filomeno dos Santos accused of the illegal transfer of $500m while head of the country's sovereign wealth fund. (Al Jazeera)
Nicolas Sarkozy, Ex-President Of France, Faces Corruption Charges Over Libyan Cash
Mr. Sarkozy, 63, faces charges of passive corruption, illegal campaign financing and misappropriation of Libyan public funds. (New York Times)
Trump Organization’s Real Estate Partner In India Accused Of $147 Million Fraud
A real estate investment company that partnered with the Trump Organization on an office tower project in India has been accused of defrauding its foreign investors of at least $147 million, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. (Washington Post)
Former South African President Jacob Zuma Charged With Fraud, Corruption, Graft And Racketeering
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority said it’s pursuing 16 charges against former President Jacob Zuma including graft and racketeering that were shelved nine years ago amid allegations of political interference. (Time)
Theranos Chief Executive Elizabeth Holmes Charged With Massive Fraud
Elizabeth Holmes, founder and chief executive of the blood-testing company Theranos, has been charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission with an “elaborate, years-long fraud” in which she and former company president Ramesh “Sunny” Balwani “allegedly deceived investors into believing that its key product — a portable blood analyzer — could conduct comprehensive blood tests from finger drops of blood,” the SEC said. (Washington Post)
CFTC Moves To Cement Authority Over Crypto Fraud Cases
Just two days after U.S. Judge Jack B. Weinstein of the Eastern District of New York ruled in favor of the CFTC, affirming its definition of cryptocurrency as a commodity, the regulator gave notice of "supplemental legal authority" to My Big Coin Pay Inc - a crypto services company it charged with fraud and misappropriation of funds in January. (CoinDesk)
'Pharma Bro' Martin Shkreli Cries In Court, Is Sentenced To 7 Years For Securities Fraud
Martin Shrkeli, the smirking "Pharma Bro" vilified for jacking up the price of a lifesaving drug, was sentenced to seven years in prison for defrauding investors in two failed hedge funds. (Chicago Tribune)
Organizer Of Failed Fyre Festival Pleads Guilty To Fraud
The festival’s main organizer, William McFarland, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud related to the festival and to his media company that prosecutors said had cost investors $26 million in losses. (New York Times)
Missed Warnings: How Watchdogs Failed To Spot $2 Billion Indian Bank Fraud
The room where Shetty worked was visited on a quarterly basis by external auditors approved by the central bank, who sifted through documents but failed to spot any problem, according to interviews with two bank employees with first-hand knowledge of the department’s operations. (Reuters)
Wells Fargo Accused Of Harming Fraud Victimes By Closing Accounts
Matthew Valles, a former fraud investigator for Wells Fargo in Portland, Ore., said the bank fired him in January in retaliation for his internal complaints about “hundreds” of mishandled fraud investigations. (New York Times)
Crackdown On Cryptocurrency Fraud Widens With SEC subpoenas
Expanding a broad crackdown on fraudulent initial coin offerings, U.S. regulators have sent a number of subpoenas to firms they suspect might be violating securities laws, said a person with direct knowledge of the matter. (American Banking)
February
India Federal Police File Fraud Case Against Simbhaoli Sugar Executives
India’s federal police said it had filed a fraud case against executives of Simbhaoli Sugar for causing alleged losses of 1.09 billion rupees ($16.85 million) to state-run Oriental Bank of Commerce. (Reuters)
How A $1.8 Billion Indian Bank Fraud Lasted Seven Years
The story of how India’s biggest bank fraud went undetected for seven years includes an $81 million cyber-heist in neighboring Bangladesh, penny-pinching lenders and a series of missed opportunities. (Bloomberg)
Unpublished Data Shows India's Fraud Problems Extend Far Beyond PNB
Investors may have been shocked when one of India’s biggest banks disclosed a $1.77 billion fraud by a billionaire jeweler, but the central bank has recorded data that shows the problem runs far deeper and wider. (Reuters)
Billionaire Diamond Dealer Suspected Of Huge Bank Fraud
A senior government official named Nirav Modi as a leading suspect at a news conference after investigators raided properties belonging to the celebrity jeweler and seized assets worth more than $200 million. (CNN)
Israeli Police Push For Prime Minister Netanyahu's Indictment On Corruption Charges
Isreali police are urging the attorney general to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in two corruption cases involving bribery, fraud and breach of trust. (NPR)
Barclays Bank Charged Again By SFO Over £2.2bn Qatar Loan
The Serious Fraud Office has charged Barclays for a second time over a $3bn (£2.2bn) loan the bank made to Qatar when Middle East investors bought shares in the bank to prop it up at the peak of the financial crisis. (Guardian)
Former Pilot Flying J Sales Exec Ordered Up Fraud 'Manual' To Keep Track, Trial Reveals
It was getting tough to keep up with the cheating, and getting caught had proven expensive for the nation’s largest diesel fuel retailer. But Pilot Flying J sales executive Arnie Ralenkotter had a solution: A fraud “manual.” (Knox News)
Ex-Credit Suisse Banker Guilty As Fraud Tops $150 Million
A former Credit Suisse Group AG wealth manager was found guilty of orchestrating a scheme that resulted in damages of 143 million Swiss francs ($152 million) as he diverted cash from client accounts to cover bad trades in one of the biggest financial crimes in Swiss history. (Bloomberg)
‘They Exaggerated Figures’: Ugandan Aid Officials Suspended Over Alleged Fraud
The Ugandan government has suspended four officials at the start of an investigation into alleged mismanagement of funds meant to support refugees. (Guardian)
¥39 Bil. Stolen In Special Fraud In 2017
A total of ¥39.03 billion was stolen in bank transfers and other special fraud in Japan last year, down ¥1.74 billion, or 4.3 percent, from 2016, police data showed. (Japan News)
More Than 11,000 Americans Targeted In India Call Center Tax Fraud
Three men in India were arrested this week after police uncovered a huge scheme that targeted more than 11,000 people in the United States. (Washington Post)
Federal Reserve Shackles Wells Fargo After Fraud Scandal
The Federal Reserve imposed unusually harsh penalties on Wells Fargo, punishing it for years of misconduct and barring it from future growth until the bank fixes its problems. (New York Times)
China Fines 19 Banking Institutions Over Loan Fraud
China's banking regulators have imposed a fine of 52.5 million yuan (about 8.33 million U.S. dollars) on 19 banking institutions over a pledge loan fraud case in the country's central Shaanxi and Henan provinces. (Xinhua Net)
January
Prosecutors: Reputed Mob Boss Orchestrated Insurance Fraud
Joseph "Skinny Joey" Merlino was a tough-talking "fixer" in a widespread scheme to collect insurance payments by bribing doctors to write bogus prescriptions for a pain cream, Assistant U.S. Attorney Max Nicholas told Manhattan jurors. (U.S. News And World Report)
New Broker Rules Aim To Curb Elder Fraud
Brokers will be allowed to temporary halt a requested disbursement from an account if they suspect financial exploitation. (CNBC)
China Fines 12 Banks Over Bill Trading, Fraud
China’s banking regulator said on Saturday that it had fined 12 Chinese lenders after uncovering illegal trading of 7.9 billion yuan ($1.25 billion) of bank bills.(Reuters)
Ex-KPMG Exec Arrested In Cobb For Alleged Role In Audit Fraud Scheme
A former leader at one of the world’s largest accounting firms was arrested on Monday as part of a sweeping fraud investigation, according to the Department of Justice. (Atlanta Jousrnal-Constitution)
Retailers Are So Wary Of Fraud They’re Rejecting Real Customers
Retailers are so worried about fraudulent purchases online, many say they’re rejecting legitimate transactions out of fear that they may be fake. (Bloomberg)
How Nigerians Beat Bitcoin Scams
The country’s embrace of the cryptocurrency has led to some old-school precautions against fraud. (Bloomberg)
CFTC Files Charges In Two Cryptocurrency Fraud Cases
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed charges against two companies for fraud involving the sale of and advice on cryptocurrency investments. (The Hill)
Billionaire-Owned Hearing Aid Manufacturer's Former Executives On Trial For Embezzlement, Fraud
Federal prosecutors allege that, among other charges, Ruzicka “orchestrated a scheme” to steal more than $20 million from Starkey between 2006 and 2015. (Forbes)
India Bans Price Waterhouse For 2 Years In Corporate Fraud Case
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) issued the order after its probe found Price Waterhouse guilty in a decade-old fraud case of over one billion U.S. dollars, involving software firm Satyam Computers, often described as "India's Enron." (Xinhua Net)
Former AFLAC Employees Allege Fraud And Abuse In Nearly Every Aspect Of Company
THE insurance firm AFLAC has exploited workers, manipulated its accounting, and deceived shareholders and customers, according to nine former employees. (Intercept)
‘Nigerian Prince’ Scammer Alleged To Be 67-Year-Old American Man
Michael Neu, of Slidell, 50km north of New Orleans, is facing 269 counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. (News Corp Australia)
PwC Found Liable For $2B Colonial Bank Fraud
PricewaterhouseCoopers has been found liable in an accounting malpractice case that alleged it failed to detect the $2 billion fraud that led to one of the biggest bank collapses in history. (CFO)
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