Former executive Bernie Ebbers leaves the federal building for an arraignment in custody March 3, 2004 in New York City.

Stuart Ramson / Stringer

How Much Do You Know About These Famous Fraud Cases?

AARP

Updated February 07, 2020

En español

Published June 07, 2019

/ Updated February 07, 2020

10 Questions

4247d0e4-30c5-4885-9474-00e945da26c0

How Much Do You Know About These Famous Fraud Cases?

[ {
  "question" : "True or false? A Ponzi scheme is named after Ponzi Louis, a famous boxer of the 1930s who issued fake stock certificates for a nonexistent real estate investment in upstate New York.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "True",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "False",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "It’s actually named for Charles Ponzi, who ran a multilevel investment scam that collapsed in 1920. He subsequently served 14 years in prison for the scheme.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Dozens of people, including several Hollywood celebrities, were charged in mid-March 2019 in a scheme to buy these.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Illegal Bitcoins",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "University admissions for their children",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Counterfeit watches",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Stolen smartphones",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "In the scheme, the defendants allegedly purchased spots at major universities for their children through a broker who paid bribes to college coaches to get the children classified as potential athletic recruits.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "This man was the founder of Enron, a one-time U.S. energy giant that filed for bankruptcy in 2001 amid allegations of serious accounting irregularities.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Jeffrey Skilling",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Kenneth Lay",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Andrew Fastow",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Henry F. Potter",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Several former Enron executives were convicted and sentenced to prison for fraud-related charges in the wake of the collapse; Lay was convicted in 2006 of fraud and conspiracy charges but died two months later of an apparent heart attack.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "This investment manager and former chairman of the Nasdaq exchange oversaw a massive investment scheme that, when it collapsed, cost its investors as much as $65 billion.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Bernie Cornfeld",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Harry Jelinek",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Gaston Means",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Bernie Madoff",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Madoff pleaded guilty to 11 felonies in conjunction with the scheme and received a 150-year prison sentence.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "In April 2019, the government charged two dozen people for scamming this program out of more than $1 billion for unnecessary medical equipment.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Affordable Care Act",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Medicaid",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Medicare ",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Tricare",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "More than 100 equipment companies had Medicare payments cut off as a result of the operation, the FBI announced.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Which movie was based on the exploits of Frank Abagnale Jr., who forged checks, posed as a doctor and even convinced an airline he was a pilot so he could get free flights?",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "\"American Hustle\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Catch Me If You Can\"",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "\"Confidence\"",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "The 2002 film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Abagnale and Tom Hanks as the FBI agent chasing him, netted DiCaprio a Golden Globes nomination for best actor in a drama.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "This former chairman of Lincoln Savings and Loan in California became known as the “face” of the savings and loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Dennis DeConcini",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Donald Riegle",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Charles Keating",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Doyle Lonnegan",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Keating’s accounting fraud, coming in the wake of deregulation in the S&L industry, inflated the value of holdings and created the illusion of spectacular growth. Lincoln Savings failed in 1989, at a cost of more than $3 billion; more than 1,000 other S&Ls failed during the period at an estimated cost to taxpayers of $124 billion.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "Bernard Ebbers, the former founder and chairman of this one-time telecommunications giant, got a 25-year sentence for his part in a fraud estimated at a then-record $11 billion.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Pacific Telesis",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Vodafone",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "VoiceStream",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "WorldCom",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Ebbers was convicted in 2005 of nine charges in the fraud. He died Feb. 2, 2020.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "“Count” Victor Lustig forged papers stating he was authorized to sell scrap metal from this famous structure, which needed major repairs. He subsequently accepted money from two scrap metal dealers for them to “buy” parts of the structure.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Brooklyn Bridge",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Arc de Triomphe",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Tower Bridge",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Eiffel Tower",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Lustig told the dealers in 1925 that the tower had to come down because of structural problems and engineering faults, meaning he essentially “sold” the tower twice over. He subsequently moved to the United States, where he was convicted in 1935 of a massive counterfeiting operation and sentenced to 20 years in federal prison.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
  "question" : "In 2002, this company’s stock fell nearly 80 percent in six weeks as some of its top executives arranged for low-interest loans and unauthorized stock sales.",
  "answers" : [ {
    "answer" : "Tyco International",
    "correctAnswer" : true
  }, {
    "answer" : "Waste Management Inc.",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "American Insurance Group",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  }, {
    "answer" : "Freddie Mac",
    "correctAnswer" : false
  } ],
  "multiSelect" : false,
  "explanation" : "Tyco once was considered a blue-chip company, but the fraud eventually led to charges against its former chief executive officer and chief financial officer.",
  "hint" : "",
  "hintLink" : "",
  "questionImgCaption" : "",
  "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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