R. Allen Stanford, accused Ponzi schemer, is about to get a new home. Following a fight at Joe Corley Detention Facility just north of Houston, Tex., a judge has ordered that he be moved to a facility in downtown Houston.

The order doesn't seem to be linked to the altercation that occurred last Thursday. Rather, it's to facilitate Stanford's meetings with his court-appointed attorney, Kent Schaffer.

Continue reading Stanford moved after cellblock smackdown

Stanford moved after cellblock smackdown originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The world's most famous rogue trader is about to have his encounter with the criminal justice system. Jerome Kerviel, made famous by transactions he made while a trader at Societe Generale, will go to trial.

He's been charged with forgery, breach of trust and unauthorized computer use. If the French legal system finds him guilty, he could spend up to five years in prison and face a fine of up to €375,000.

Kerviel allegedly made unauthorized trades that cost SocGen more than €5 billion. The losses -- and underlying activity -- came to light in January 2008 as one of the largest trading losses ever to be sustained.

Continue reading 'Rogue trader' Kerviel to stand trial in 2010

'Rogue trader' Kerviel to stand trial in 2010 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hedge fund manager Michael Regan has pleaded guilty to running a Ponzi scheme. Manager of the Massachusetts-based River Stream Fund, he admitted to defrauding around 70 investors. The fund held just shy of $20 million in assets ... despite the relatively meager $101,600 sitting in its accounts. The fund purported to return 20 percent a year since 2001, paying out $9 million in "profits" and returned capital.

Continue reading Ponzi manager pleads guilty and settles civil charges

Ponzi manager pleads guilty and settles civil charges originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From April 2006 to May 2007 - the latter date after the judge had ordered him to stop running the company - Mr. Altomare had the company spend $558,900 at a retail jewelry store in Boca Raton, Fla. In October, he pawned the jewelry for $500,000 ...

Universal Express: The goofy lil' stock promotion that gets more outrageous each month originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Nov 2007 13:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ya know those books from Playboy that are so good you can't put them down until you finish?

Great Business Disasters: Swindlers, Bunglers and Frauds in American Industry, edited by Isadore Barmash and published by the Playboy Press, is just that kind of book. I would actually say that it's the most interesting book of business history I've ever encountered. And it's out of print.

Great Business Disasters is an anthology of some of the best financial journalism of the era, with a special focus on longer pieces covering frauds and mess-ups. We get a piece by John Brooks (author of the also-excellent Once in Golconda) on the infamous Ford Edsel and a fascinating piece by a very young Andrew Tobias on the National Student Marketing fiasco, who worked as a marketing director for the company.

There are a total of 15 accounts of some of the greatest and most infamous mess-ups in business history. Some of these are more obscure but still fascinating, and you're unlikely to find out about them outside of this book.

Reading Great Business Disasters, I couldn't help but lament the fact that this sort of long-form journalism is dying. Only a few great writers -- Gary Weiss and Herb Greenberg come to mind -- are carrying on this art. With Rupert Murdoch having complained that he finds The Wall Street Journal's feature stories too long, this situation seems likely to get worse.

Someone really needs to get the rights to this book and put it back in print -- It could be updated with some of The Wall Street Journal's accounts of the Enron blow-up and, of course, my coverage of Usana Health Sciences (Kidding...). Fortunately, the book is still available. Here are some places to get it used:

• On eBay
• AbeBooks
• Amazon.com (As low as a penny!)

Book Review: Great Business Disasters originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 05 Sep 2007 19:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

• Ken Lay's Bible
• Floyd Landis' pee cup
• Rosie Ruiz's running shoes
• Uri Geller's spoon
• Frank Abagnale's pilot wings
• Milli Vanilli's musical charts
• Jayson Blair's chair from the NYT

Barry Bonds' baseball: What's it really worth? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I came across an interesting music video from Nigeria today. It's the popular (in Nigeria) hit "I go chop your dollars, " by Nkem Owoh. You can see the video here. It's an ode to the Nigerian email scam, which for those of you who haven't received the email (2 or 3 show up in my spam box every day), involves receiving an email from someone purporting to be the beneficiary of a large inheritance who would like to share some of it with you -- if you can advance them a few thousands dollars so that they can secure the money. Of course, the unwitting victims send in the money and never receive a dime. You can read more about it on ExpertLaw.

The scam has become one of the largest industries in Nigeria, with the government only recently ramping up efforts to crack down on it. Victims include widows and several churches have gone broke with the scam. Many of the fraudsters rationalize defrauding Americans by seeing the scam as their way of "stickin' it to the man," in a country that is rife with anti-American sentiment. The music video provides interesting insight into a culture where scamming Americans is glorified in some circles. Of course, people involved in the scam represent only a small fraction of the country, and most Nigerians are honest hard-working people. But it is certainly interesting that an artist was able to have a hit song with such a message.

Nigerian email scam: The music video originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 26 Dec 2006 15:23:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.