International Law

How to spot a fraud?

Nevil Gibson, writing at New Zealand's The National Business Review, has an interesting question.

"Which comes first - the con man or the gullible victim?

In the case of Derek Turner, the answer is just as likely to be the latter than the former.

Few who watched TV3's 'docu-drama' on Turner, The Million Dollar Con Man, will not be appalled by the story, except that it reveals a long-familiar pattern.

In fact, little in the film puts the blame where some in the media prefer to see it - on regulatory authorities and a corrupt ethos in business.

Some reviewers even used this line to air their anti-business views and wonder how he got away with it. Shouldn't there be a law against it, they ask, and why wsn't he stopped before anyone lost any money?

Yet, unlike the failed finance companies, Turner was not actually involved in a business - he simply took in money, all $US55 million of it - and spent it on a lavish lifestyle for himself and his wife."

Nevil concludes that "greed beats due diligence any day. It is, of course, not fashionable in the media to blame victims for their greed, though some interviewed in The Million Dollar Con Man do admit this."

What I object to to In Nevil's story is the simple conclusion: that greed trumped due diligence. It is unlikely that the amazing story of Turner's fraud is so easily explained. It would be too good to be true. Fortunately, for the story, Nevil gives Barry Minkow his due, "Spotting frauds is a key job of the media, as giving scams credibility is one their essential characteristics. Turner first used this technique in Australia when he was taken seriously - for a time - after launching a bid for BHP without actually owning any shares or having any money. The man who exposed Turner - conman-turned-preacher Barry Minkow - provides some easily recognised signals for fraud.

Full post as published by Misleading Advertising Law on September 19, 2008 (boomark / email).