I just watched a terrific movie (based on a true story) about Dan Mahowny, a compulsive gambler who defrauded the bank he worked for to feed his habit. It's a must-see for anyone who is a student of white collar crime -- which is something all investors ought to be.
Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as a socially awkward, up-and-coming assistant manager at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. Having developed a serious gambling addiction that started when he was a pre-teen, he finds himself owing a few thousand dollars to a bookie, but he doesn't have the money. So he opens up a phantom account with the bank for a fictitious person, and establishes a line of credit to pay off his gambling debt. He doesn't get caught, so he begins to use that account and others to gamble. By the time he was caught, he had embezzled over $10 million from his employer in a span of just 18 months.
Owning Mahowny is a brilliant look at the psyche of a compulsive gambler -- the director does an excellent job of keeping the focus on Mahowny's own personal hell, not on the size of the fraud or the glitz and glamor of the casino.
It's also a compelling profile of what I suspect is the typical white collar criminal who doesn't have horns: a basically good guy who gets into a tight spot and makes a moral compromise, doesn't get caught, and becomes comfortable with committing fraud.
This is definitely the best movie that I've seen about the psychology of problem gambling. Philip Seymour Hoffman is amazing, and the supporting cast, including Minnie Driver, makes this a compelling human story, not just a crime thriller.
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