xxii, 329 pages ; 24 cm

Lays bare the strategies that corrupt CEOs and CFOs--in collusion with those who have regulatory oversight of their industries--use to defraud companies for their personal gain. Recounting the investigations he conducted as Director of Litigation for the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, Black fully reveals how Charles Keating and hundreds of other S & L owners took advantage of a weak regulatory environment to perpetrate accounting fraud on a massive scale. He also authoritatively links the S & L crash to the business failures of the early 2000s, showing how CEOs then and now are using the same tactics to defeat regulatory restraints and commit the same types of destructive fraud. Throughout, Black drives home the larger point that control fraud is a major, ongoing threat in business that requires active, independent regulators to contain it. From publisher description

Includes bibliographical references and index

Theft by deception -- "Competition in laxity" -- The most unlikely of heroes -- Keating's unholy war against the bank board -- The Texas control frauds enlist Jim Wright -- "The Faustian bargain" -- The miracles, the massacre, and the speaker's fall -- M. Danny Wall : "child of the senate" -- Final surrender : Wall takes up Neville Chamberlain's umbrella -- It's the things you do know, but aren't so, that cause disasters

plus-circle Add Review

comment

Reviews