Sam Antar, formerly the CFO of Crazy Eddie, known in the New York area for over-the-top commercials that scared the hell out of kids (well, me at least), knows his way around a questionable balance sheet. For 15 years, he was the executive chef of book-cooking, ultimately taking a guilty plea to conspiracy and obstruction of justice charges. He stayed out of the clink by taking the stand on the government's side at a 1993 trial, ultimately sending his cousin, Eddie Antar to prison for seven years or so.

Crooks make the best cops, so to speak, and Antar is putting his skills to work. He's out hunting for accounting fraud and sending his analyses off to the SEC. On his blog, the former CFO laid out what he called a "bulletproof case" against Overstock.com (NASDAQ: OSTK) – a company that the SEC had been investigating since 2006. The inquiry has been reopened.

Danny Devito signed a deal with Eddie Antar to make a movie about the electronics chain turned securities fraud he ran in 1980s. The problem? Eddie's cousin Sam Antar, the former CFO of the company, is upset because he feels that the film will glamorize corporate malfeasance. Howard Sirota, the securities lawyer who won a $700 million settlement for Antar's victims that hasn't been paid off yet, is upset because he wants any money that comes from the film to go to the victims.

A lawyer for Devito told Fox Business that "There was a deal and that deal is terminated. Any script that is written, or movie produced, will be based on public domain events and information."

Sam Antar's advised Devito to "not glamorize an economic predator." Devito has said that Antar loved the "art of the deal more than money" but Antar disagrees: "Eddie Antar loved money more than his own family."

Check out the Fox Business interview below.

If you're interested in learning about the psychology and methodology of fraud -- and every investor should be -- there are two excellent videos now available on YouTube. I don't know the date on them, or what they were made for, but they're definitely worth watching.

The first is an interview with Barry Minkow, who was in federal prison at the time for the Zzzz Best fraud. The second features former Crazy Eddie CFO, Sam E. Antar.

When I listen to these former crooks explain what they did, it all sounds so easy. While their crimes occurred back in the 1980s, I wonder how much has changed.