According to the Sacramento Bee, a would-be movie studio executive, Carissa Carpenter, pleaded not guilty last week to defrauding investors of at least $5 million during her failed 17-year attempt at creating a movie studio in Northern California. Over the 17-year period, she shifted 
the location of her planned studio several times. Her last
Is the Suzuki Violin Method Founder Really the Biggest Fraud in Musical History?
We recently blogged here about surprising facts we’d found when doing diligence on expert witnesses. We’ve looked into so many people and companies that we’re rarely taken aback when we find that someone left something off of a resume or lied about a degree. But sometimes we come across a news story that manages to
North Carolina Man Sentenced to 15 to 20 Years for Securities Fraud
According to several news reports, Walter Reinhardt of North Carolina, pled guilty to 40 charges of securities fraud, common law forgery and common law uttering in North Carolina yesterday. From 2005 to 2009, Reinhardt solicited fraudulent investments for businesses he claimed were owned by someone in Richmond, Virginia. He targeted teachers and sweet talked
Produce Company’s Owner Accused of Hiding Assets and Swindling Strawberry Company out of Millions
Last week, Curtis Harold DeBerry, owner of the Texas-based Progreso Produce Company, was arrested and accused of cheating investors, business partners and banks out of millions of 
dollars over the past few years. He now faces up to 30 years in prison.
According to the criminal complaint, DeBerry hid assets by transferring money to
News Anchor Pleads Guilty to Fraud Scheme with Private Investigator
Juliet Bickford, a Virginia news anchor, pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and money laundering charges on Wednesday in connection with an international fraud scheme orchestrated by her private investigator boyfriend, Theodoros Grontis.
Court Documents allege that Grontis, who ran an investigation company called “Internal Affairs” with a former Toronto police detective and his wife
Criminally Fabulicious: Hidden Assets in the Giudice Bankruptcy Fraud Case
Teresa and Joe Giudice, stars of Bravo’s Real Housewives of New Jersey, are leading a double life these days, running back and forth between arraignments and media appearances. Last week, the couple pleaded not guilty to 39 counts of bankruptcy fraud, mail and wir
e fraud, and tax fraud. The Giudices allegedly inflated their income
Guarding Against Check Deposit and Wire Transfer Scams
Most people have seen the warning message on the ATM machine that recently deposited funds may not be made available for immediate withdrawal. What people may not realize is that a number of scams have been designed to take advantage of the lag time between deposit and collection. A variation of the scam even
Avoiding Due Diligence Failure: Follow Up on All Red Flags
This blog takes no position on the malpractice allegations by HSBC that its law firm, Troutman Sanders, dropped the ball on its due diligence of a borrower who ended up costing the bank $75 million when the borrower put fake securities up as collateral. You can read about the lawsuit here and here.
Continue Reading Avoiding Due Diligence Failure: Follow Up on All Red Flags
Internet Fraud: How to Spot a Possible Scam on the Web
A friend’s on-line purchase led him ask us to look into a website. The results make for a nice case study in the detection of possible fraud.
Continue Reading Internet Fraud: How to Spot a Possible Scam on the Web
Strategy Tips for Asset Searches
Recently we were hired to track down a man who defaulted on a million dollar judgment against him by our clients. The man’s family owned and operated a successful retail business. Since the judgment against him, the man had declared bankruptcy. He alleged that he no longer had income from or access to his family’s