2008-04-26 22:11:44
The Seven Most Crooked CEOs of All Time
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You might read this list and argue that I left out someone who was really, really crooked. I tried to include the CEOs who directly or indirectly defrauded the investing public out of the most money, made the most amount of news and were sentenced to the longest amounts of jail time. These men were all the CEOs of high profile companies, and all in but one case, are either dead or still in jail. Here is the list, in no particular order:
1. Bernard Madoff.
Company: Bernard L. Madoff Securities
 How can you have any list like this without including Bernard Madoff, who was behind the biggest fraud ever perpetrated on the investing public? The exact size of the fraud is still unknown, but one thing is for certain - Madoff successfully bilked billions of dollars from investors over a number of decades, and successfully evaded the SEC on multiple occasions in the process. Some have as much as $65 billion dollars being lost in the scheme, while other estimates have the losses pegged at between $13-$21 billion dollars.
Madoff founded Bernard L. Madoff Securities in 1960, and was Chairman of the company until his scheme unraveled in 2008.
Madoff is currently serving out a 150 prison sentence and was ordered to pay back some $170 billion dollars in restitution.
2. Kenneth Lay.
Company: Enron
 Guilty of: overseeing one of the greatest frauds in the history of the stock market. Enron was propelled to great heights through aggressive, egregious and well-planned accounting fraud. Tens of thousands of Enron employees lost their entire net worth when the stock took a swan dive, and investors in the company lost billions. Kenneth Lay was "eager" to tell his side of the story and then did an about-face, taking the Fifth in his Congressional testimony.
Lay was indicted by a grand jury in Houston, Texas, and charged with 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud and making false and misleading statements. Lay ended up being found guilty of ten different counts of conspiracy and fraud charges.
Where is he Now: Dead. Approximately three and a half months before being sentenced, Kenneth Lay died while vacationing in Colorado. His conviction ended up being vacated.
3. Barry Minkow.
Company: ZZZZ Best
 Guilty of: using his "ZZZZ Best" company as a glorified Ponzi scheme. This swindle involved all of the following elements: phony restoration contracts. Mob money. Phony press releases. Million dollar mansions. The company, which was built on smoke and mirrors, actually ended up going public and giving Minkow a temporary net worth of over a hundred million dollars. Eventually people started asking questions and the company collapsed within weeks. Minkow was extremely young, having started the company when he was just 16 years old. The collapse of his company took place when Minkow was the ripe old age of 20 years old.
Minkow's home and businesses were raided, and he was eventually convicted of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison. He ended up serving just seven years of his sentence.
Where is he Now: Is a senior pastor of the Community Bible Church in San Diego. Found God while serving time in prison. Lectures on fraud prevention.
4. Bernard Ebbers.
Company: WorldCom
 Guilty of: was CEO during a three year period in which the company used fraudulent methods to cover up their deteriorating business. It was later revealed that the company had under-reported certain costs and inflated revenues in order to appear stronger than they actually were. In 2003 it was revealed that the company's total assets had been inflated by $11 billion dollars.
Was convicted of nine charges on March 15th, 2005, and was eventually sentenced to 25 years in jail.
Where is he Now: Certainly serving time at the Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution in Oakdale, Louisana. Eligible for parole in July of 2028.
5. David Walsh.
Company: Bre-X Minerals Ltd.
 Guilty of: while always protesting his innocence, Walsh founded and was CEO of the company that perpetrated one of the biggest frauds on the investing public EVER. Bre-X was a junior mining company based out of Calgary that was at one time worth billions of dollars. This lofty valuation was completely unjustified though as company employees had "salted" a mining site based in Busang, Indonesia in order to give the appearance that the site contained a phenomenal amount of gold. Some estimated that the site could contain as much as 200 million ounces of gold. Many investors piled in, and eventually the entire company was exposed as being a fraud. Billions were lost, lawsuits were filed, and Walsh fled to the Bahamas.
Where is he Now: Dead. Walsh died of a brain aneurysm in June of 1998.
6. Calisto Tanzi.
Company: Parmalat
 Guilty of: Embezzled eight hundred millions euros from the company that he ran and founded. Signed off on accounting deceptions that allowed the company to try and cover up billions of dollars worth of losses.
Tanzi was eventually arrested for financial fraud and money laundering, and one of the greatest financial scandals in the history of Italy was now underway. Tanzi admitted during questioning that he had diverted funds out of Parmalat and into other ventures.
Where is he Now: Currently serving time in a Milan prison.
7. Dennis Kozlowski.
Company: Tyco
 Guilty of: misappropriating company funds. Along with former CFO Mark Swartz, was accused of stealing $600 million dollars from the company. This money was used to fund a lavish lifestyle which included $6,000 shower curtains and million dollar birthday bashes for his wife. Was eventually convicted on June 17th, 2005 for a multitude of different charges, including fraud and grand larceny. Was sentenced to serve no less than eight years and four months and a maximum of 25 years in prison for his role in the scandal.
Where is he now: Currently serving time in prison.
Filed under: Stock Market Scandals
7 COMMENTS - What Say You?
Comment by Theo on February 02, 2009 @ 3:27 pm
This list seems too short. Please examnd it...Top Twenty?
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Comment by Janis on February 03, 2009 @ 10:12 pm
Where is Madoff? I agree that this list is too short. What happened to all the people in the government, & AIG CEO's?
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Comment by Dave on February 04, 2009 @ 12:02 am
To be fair - I wrote this article in April of 2008. I agree that it should be updated though, and it is on my to-do list.
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Comment by mike keaveny on February 07, 2009 @ 4:58 pm
A good read. Madoff isn't there. He should top everyone's list.I think you should write a story on what will likely happen in April, 2009. You say what is the subject? I say Obama will nationalize the banks. If the economy sheds another 1,000,000 jobs in February and March, 2009, a panic will happen. There will be a massive FDR type program by Obama that will make the present simulas deal (750 billion)look like chickenshit. Trust me, everyone knows the present value of billions in Hedge Funds is a fake. By fake I mean funds that are not marketable. My idea is you nationalize the banks now, then weed out the weak hedge funds over time. Has anyone really told the truth to the public that not taking over the banks NOW will avoid the panic THAT WILL HAPPEN when jobless numbers in FEB and MAR average 500,000 each month.If employers are dumping people like cracy now, that seems like a very bad indicator of business confidence. You have a great opportunity to look into the issue.
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Comment by Robert on March 03, 2009 @ 12:17 am
Statute of Limitations on Theft, Fraud, and Conversion is 7 years [that is for felony thefts - probably same for the other two. Every person hurt financially by these people and the various banks, especially AIG and Madoff should file a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT AGAINST THE OWNER'S [list them all], CEO'S AND PRESIDENT'S of these companies asking and getting bailed out by taxpayers. These crooks knew exactly what they were doing. Some got out before it all went belly-up but by law they are still chargeable in a legal complaint; ie, Lawsuit: Do it. My biggest complaint against Pres. Obama right now is his letting these President's and CEO's and the people that conspired with them to cheat U. S. Citizens out of their money have a literal "Get Out Of Jail Free" card, excusing all the thievery, frauds, and multiple conversions. Look up Conversion in Black's Law Dictionary or go to a nearby Law Library in your city.
Someone really needs to file a Class Action Lawsuit against the whole bunch; it may take more than one lawsuit to get them all. One for each class or group that that company DE-FRAUDED for their own greed.
Robert
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Comment by David on May 05, 2009 @ 7:11 pm
When will you people wake up? Did Black Monday teach us nothing. Why would you ever GIVE YOUR MONEY TO SOME ONE to "invest" for you?
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Comment by Steve on August 24, 2009 @ 1:29 am
How about guys that create ponzi schemes... Who are some of those guys... the ones that created ponzi schemes... you know... big pyramids of debt... who are those guys...
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