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.

Continue reading Movie review: Owning Mahowny

Movie review: Owning Mahowny originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 15 Dec 2007 17:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.