The world of finance is a vast ocean that has so many complexities. It involves tough calculations, accounting concepts, and more. Moreover, the writing tasks, such as the dissertation, are a big nightmare for scholars. Plus, choosing a unique topic that stands out from the rest. However, some students are wise, and to avoid this situation, they seek finance assignment help. Sometimes you have to remember what has happened in the past. In this article, you are going to learn about the most famous financial scams that have happened.
List of Biggest Financial Scams
Covering financial scams in your assignment can make your paper unique and increase your financial knowledge. So, in this list of financial scams, you will learn about the top scams that happened in history.
Lehman Brothers—Repurchase Agreements
It is said to be one of the most notorious scams, the Lehman Brothers scandal. The global service company showed 50 billion in theft sales. But in reality, that 50 billion was the debt on the firm. They found a loophole in the accounting standard language related to purchase agreements. After disguising their loans as sales, they sold their assets to Cayman Islands banks. However, it was exposed in September 2008.
Bernie Madoff - Ponzi Scheme
Bernie Madoff had a company registered on Wall Street. He tricked the investors using this company and scammed them, taking 64.8 billion, which is now called the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The money was returned to all the investors out of their money. His accountants were involved in this. So, they were also imprisoned for life.
Saytam - Falsifying Records
Satyam, an Indian firm, in 2009 was exposed for falsifying revenues, margins, and cash balances to the tune of 50 billion rupees. They named their firm Saytam; it was an IT and back office accounting firm. Although the chairman and co-founder of the company were charged, they were released because the FBI failed to file charges on time.
Enron - Hiding Debts
This incident took place before all the ones. The Enron scandal was exposed in the year 2001. The company falsified their balance sheet and hid their debts, which led to the loss of shareholders. This led to a loss of 74 billion; thousands of employees lost their money and their retirement accounts. They were exposed because of Sherron Watkins after becoming suspicious of the cost of their price.
Treaty of Utrecht
It is one of the earliest accounting scams. In 1720, the UK signed the Treaty of Utrecht 1713 in Spain. The treaty allowed Utrecht to trade with seas near South America. But the fact was that it affected the UK market. An inquiry team worked on it, and the chancellor, John Aislabie, was found guilty and sent to jail. So, this was the Treaty of Utrecht scam, which you can cover in your project. However, if you need help with your paper, you can seek university assignment help.
The Wolf of Wall Street
Jordan Belfort, a former Wall Street trader, was found guilty because he manipulated the stock market. He used the pump and dump scheme, which inflated the stock prices. In this scheme, the company Jordan used to pump the rates of IPO stocks, which led to an increase in the stock prices. Moreover, he was exposed and was sent to jail for four years.
Harshad Mehta Scam
Harshad Mehta found the loopholes in the Indian banking system. He found a way to use the bank's money to inflate the stock prices. This scam was exposed to the world in the year 1992; it shook the Indian economy. The scam was around 4000 cr in Indian rupees; this also led the government to identify the flaws in the country's financial system.
Americanas SA - Supplier Finance
The accounting scam at Brazilian retailer Americanas SA led to a 4 billion dollar scam. It was done by entering false readings in the balance sheet. This was a practice done by exploiting account regulations. In this scam, they showed their financial health to be stronger than it is.
Wirecard Scam
It was considered a genuine tech company. It was exposed in 2020 for finding fraud in accounting for several years. The Wirecard scam was at least 1.9 billion dollars, but their accounts showed that it never existed. It even caused a lot of damage to the investors.
CHS-False Financial Statements
The global agribusiness showed false financial statements. It was found after five years that they manipulated the quantities and values of some freight contracts. They manipulated the quantities and values of certain freight contracts between 2014 and 2018. It did not have sufficient accounting controls, which led to this scam. However, they avoided any legal action as they settled with the SEC and accepted their mistakes.
Granite Construction
A civil engineering firm was exposed for misconduct by their former vice president, Dale Swanberg. He manipulated a project's profit and margin. The reported benefit was more than the real profit. This scam was discovered by the SEC; they fined them 12 million dollars for the misconduct.
FTX
The most recent scam from the above list. It was cryptocurrency fraud. It was owned by the founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. They were accused of mismanaging the funds of the investors on the FTX, which was a trading platform. They blocked the withdrawal option, so the customers cannot withdraw their money. This led to a gap of 8 billion dollars, and they filed for bankruptcy.
Wrap Up
So, this is the list of famous financial frauds that you can cover in your paper or to gain more financial knowledge. As you might have noticed, most scams were related to accounting and account mismanagement. So, it is crucial to focus on your finance class. Although this subject is a vast ocean, excelling in this is difficult. Moreover, writing complex academic tasks and finishing them on time is a big headache for students. However, in this situation, some students seek finance assignment help. They have experts who have a lot of experience and can help you in crafting a top-notch paper.