(By Daven Morrison)To build on earlier posts regarding the Steve Wessel Case (see previous two posts): As the cardiologist assesses the heart, the psychiatrist assesses the mind. When the heart or the mind malfunctions, the physician seeks to understand what happened and what can be done to get things back on track. In the workplace, […]
(By Victor Hartman)More than 25 years ago, I was sitting in an FBI Academy classroom soon to become a newly minted FBI Agent. I heard a presentation on the legendary but notorious Charles Ponzi. I thought to myself, how stupid for someone to get caught up in such a “transparent” scheme and certainly this is the kind […]
(By Jack Bigelow and Joe Koletar) A Wall Street Journal article by Maria Armental describes “The Curious Case of an ‘Oxford’ Man,” in which Steven Wessel is described by a U.S. Attorney as “…much less an investment banker than a serial liar.” According to the article, Wessel conducted a classic Ponzi operation. Investors were persuaded […]
(By Jack Bigelow) I was scanning my emailed Washington Post Headlines when an article by Drew Harwell grabbed my attention. It was titled, “Tarnished by the Enron scandal, can this brand be saved?” Whoa! Having been a part of Andersen for more than 27 years, I knew that this was Big News. And it was: […]
(By Jack Bigelow) Colleagues Daven Morrison and Joe Koletar have kicked off a discussion of lessons learned from the Richard Nixon resignation of 40 years ago (see their posts below). Daven describes the behavior of deception (behavior exercised in spades throughout the sordid Watergate coverup leading to the President’s resignation as impeachment and trial were […]
(By Joe Koletar) My friend and colleague, Daven Morrison, recently posted a piece on deception (see below) and why it is quite common human behavior, to one degree or another. We see deception in many areas of our lives. A child may “make up” an imaginary friend they can talk to and play with. Little […]
Fraud’s the only crime that cannot take place without victim cooperation. That’s just one of the points that Daven Morrison, M.D., makes in a presentation given to the Grand Rounds meeting at Elgin State Hospital, Elgin, Illinois this past winter. Titled, “Oh What a Web We Weave….: Fraud and the Mind,” the presentation questions the […]
(By Joe Koletar and Jack Bigelow) (See previous two postings for additional information) Thus far in exploring the factors we believe to be behind the FBI’s downgrading of its mortgage fraud investigations, we’ve considered two factors: • Concurrence with the priority-lowering decision by other affected government agencies; • The dramatic emergence of counterterrorism as a […]
(By Joe Koletar and Jack Bigelow) (See previous posting for background information) In Post 1 of this series, we noted that one factor involved in the FBI’s decision to reduce its investigative activity into mortgage fraud is that “The FBI does not act on its own….Other entities and institutions [must concur in its priorities]”. The […]
I (By Joe Koletar and Jack Bigelow) The Federal Bureau of Investigation is easing its investigation of mortgage fraud. This is a topic receiving national attention after the recent release of a report by the Justice Department’s Inspector General. The Report covers the period of 2009-2011 and indicates the FBI has downgraded mortgage fraud as […]