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Barry Minkow was one of the youngest people to ever take a company public in the United States. He is remembered not for that feat, but for the massive financial fraud he committed via his company ZZZZ Best Co., Inc. The stock of the carpet cleaning company once had a value of $300 million, but it all came crashing down in the late 1980s.

Minkow and a few associates successfully fooled financial statement auditors into believing the company had millions of dollars of revenue each year. In reality, the revenues were 86% below what they were reported to be. Barry took over $20 million in loans from 15 banks and several individuals in furtherance of his fraud.

He was sentenced to 25 years in prison while still in his early twenties, and ultimately spent more than seven years in prison, all of it in maximum or medium security prisons. Minkow's sentence also included $26 million in restitution. While in prison, Minkow became a Christian and devoted his life to ministry.

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Financial Felons: Barry Minkow originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:17:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.