A criminal investigation by Chinese officials has found that the online company, Ezubao, once a dynamo of the financial industry, offered mostly fake investment products to its nearly one million investors. This has highlighted the urgent need for tougher supervision of online financing system in the world’s second largest economy. Questions: 1. What interest rate… Read more »
Posts Tagged: Fraud
Security Chips and Bearing the Cost of Fraud
New payment cards, issued over the last year, come with a small square security chip that can help make in-person transactions more secure. However, retailers complain that they have spent billions of dollars upgrading their payment terminals to accommodate a system that cuts down on the fraud shouldered by banks, but not merchants. Questions: 1…. Read more »
A Disturbing Trend
A controversial law enforcement known as civil asset forfeiture allows police to seize and keep cash and property from people, who are suspected of wrongdoing but may never be charged. Despite public outcries, the use of this procedure has increased in the past decade. Questions: 1. The figures in reports show “the size of the… Read more »
Contagion in Earnings Manipulations
A new study shows that after one company in an industry is found to have misstated its earnings, others in its industry often followed suit and began massaging their own numbers; this ultimately results in their own restatements. Questions: 1. Why were the regulatory actions in the study so intriguing and what did they indicate?… Read more »
Incredible Law School Debt
The median LSAT score of students admitted to Florida Coastal School of Law was among the lowest 25% nationwide. Despite the fact that the average debt of the 2014 graduating class had $163,000 in debt, may not pass the bar, and probably cannot repay the debt, this school is one of six for-profit law schools… Read more »
To PIN or not to PIN?
Some big U.S. retailers are stepping up efforts to use personal identification numbers, or PINs, with new credit cards embedded with computer chips in a bid to prevent counterfeit card fraud. Questions: 1. Why is this being resisted by banks? 2. Which retailers are leading the movement? 3. Discuss the costs and benefits of the… Read more »
Vintage Frauds
The issue of fake wines started to become headline news a few years ago when the so-called Thomas Jefferson bottles, several old bottles of Bordeaux, claimed to have belonged to Thomas Jefferson were offered by a German wine collector named Hardy Rodenstock. Bill Koch, the brother of the notorious Charles and David Koch, bought four… Read more »
Frauds in Small Family-owned Wineries
There have been a number of examples of wine-related crimes in recent times. In the wine industry, the most trusted employee could be the person least suspected of committing fraud. This article details some of the most recent frauds in the wine industry. Questions: 1. What types of fraud are highlighted in the article? 2…. Read more »
Kaleil Tuzman: The Rest of the Story
Kit Digital Inc.’s former chairman and chief executive officer and its former chief financial officer were arrested and charged with accounting fraud at the software company. Questions: 1. What was the type of accounting fraud that Tuzman and Smythe are charged with committing? 2. According to the article, how much money was involved and who… Read more »
It’s Too Late for I’m Sorry!
Volkswagen shares plunged more than 20 percent on Monday, their biggest one-day fall, after the German carmaker admitted it had rigged emissions tests in the United States, and U.S. authorities said they would widen their probe to other manufacturers. Questions: 1. Briefly explain the emissions data scandal. 2. What was the recent challenge to Volkswagen… Read more »