FraudBaron.com

The investment scam-artist's playbook

cnn.money.com | 2/25/09 | suspects: Stanford/Madoff

If successful businesses share certain "best practices," do scam artists have their own favored techniques? The banker R. Allen Stanford, while accused of a smaller scheme than Bernie Madoff's, conducted his business in ways that make it appear they were using a similar playbook.

Mistrial for teacher accused of defrauding LAUSD

latimes.com | 2/25/09 | $930,000 | suspect: Matthias Vheru | victim: LAUSD

A mistrial was declared Wednesday in a fraud case against a former Los Angeles Unified School District math teacher who prosecutors said conned the district into placing a $3.7-million order to buy math textbooks he wrote.

2 major fraud cases in NY federal court

ap.google.com | 2/26/09 | $900 million | suspects: James Nicholson/Paul Greenwood/Stephen Walsh

Federal authorities brought charges in two major securities fraud investigations Wednesday, saying one scheme fell apart because of publicity about the Bernard Madoff scandal. In that case, New Jersey fund manager James Nicholson, 42, was accused of defrauding investors of as much as $900 million since 2004.

Feds say professor stole from NASA

chron.com | 2/26/09 | $3.4 million | suspect: Samim Anghaie | victim: NASA Federal investigators are alleging that a University of Florida professor and three other members of his family fraudulently received millions of dollars from NASA and then funneled money to their personal bank accounts, court documents show.

Ex-BB&T employee sentenced to prison

newsobserver.com | 2/25/09 | $269,447 | suspect: Melody Owens | victim: BB&T

A former BB&T employee from Fuquay-Varina was sentenced to prison Monday for embezzling more than $200,000.

CANYON LAKE: Former councilman pleads guilty to embezzlement

northcountytimes.com | 2/24/09 | $8,000 | suspect: Frank Kessler | victim: Canyon Lake

A former Canyon Lake councilman pleaded guilty Tuesday to embezzlement in connection with the use of a city-issued credit card that helped pay for a Hawaiian cruise.

US SEC halts fraud targeting deaf investors

[reuters.com](http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN1950475320090219) | 2/19/09 | $4.4 million | suspect: Billion Coupons Top U.S. securities regulators halted a $4.4 million Ponzi scheme that targeted deaf investors in the United States and Japan, the Securities and Exchange Commission said on Thursday.

Numerous complaints about Madoff to SEC 2003-06

usatoday.com  | 2/24/09 | suspect: Bernard Madoff

Several whistle-blowers filed complaints and suspicions about Bernard Madoff with federal securities regulators years before the disgraced financier's December arrest for allegedly running a massive Ponzi scheme, newly released federal records show.

Madoff Must Have Had Help, Lawyers Say

bloomberg.com | 2/24/09 | suspect: Bernard Madoff

A bankruptcy trustee's finding that Bernard Madoff didn't trade any securities for more than a decade may show that the money manager couldn't have acted alone in what the U.S. alleged was the largest Ponzi scheme in history.

Father, daughter get prison for Ponzi scam

bizjournals.com | 2/23/09 | $4.3 million | suspect: Carl Royse and Jeanette Riley | victim: Hughes Energy Inc.

A father and daughter from Illinois were both sentenced to prison for participating in a conspiracy to engage in fraudulent interstate transactions and the sale of unregistered securities relating to oil and gas investments.