Equity Funding
Equity Funding Corporation of America was a Los Angeles-based U.S. financial conglomerate that marketed a package of mutual funds and life insurance to private individuals in the 1960s and 70s. It collapsed in scandal in 1973 after former employee Ronald Secrist and securities analyst Ray Dirks blew the whistle on massive accounting fraud, including a computer system dedicated exclusively to creating and maintaining fictitious insurance policies. Investigation found that from 1964 onward, as many as 100 company employees had engaged in organized deception of investors, auditors, reinsurers and regulatory authorities. History Equity Funding was founded in 1960. Its two top officials and shareholders were Stanley Goldblum and Michael Riordan (brother of future Mayor of Los Angeles Richard Riordan), who was killed in January 1969 in a mudslide that destroyed his home in Los Angeles. The company went public in 1964. By 1972, it was one of the ten largest life insurance co ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Public Company
A public company is a company whose ownership is organized via shares of share capital, stock which are intended to be freely traded on a stock exchange or in over-the-counter (finance), over-the-counter markets. A public (publicly traded) company can be listed on a stock exchange (listing (finance), listed company), which facilitates the trade of shares, or not (unlisted public company). In some jurisdictions, public companies over a certain size must be listed on an exchange. In most cases, public companies are ''private'' enterprises in the ''private'' sector, and "public" emphasizes their reporting and trading on the public markets. Public companies are formed within the legal systems of particular states and so have associations and formal designations, which are distinct and separate in the polity in which they reside. In the United States, for example, a public company is usually a type of corporation, though a corporation need not be a public company. In the United Kin ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richard Riordan
Richard Joseph Riordan (May 1, 1930 – April 19, 2023) was an American businessman, investor, military commander, philanthropist, and politician. A decorated Korean War veteran and a member of the Republican Party, Riordan served as the 39th mayor of Los Angeles from 1993 to 2001; he remains the most recent Republican to hold that office. He ran for governor in the 2002 California gubernatorial election, losing the Republican primary. After politics, he resumed his business career, specializing in private equity. Early life, education, and career Riordan was born in Flushing, Queens, to an Irish-American family, the son of Geraldine (Doyle) and William O. Riordan. He was the youngest of their nine children. After growing up in New Rochelle, New York, he first enrolled at Santa Clara University on a football scholarship, but transferred to Princeton University, where he graduated in 1952 with an A.B. in philosophy. His senior thesis was titled "A Study of the Thomistic Fac ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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1973 Crimes In The United States
Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 1972 Miami Dolphins season, Miami Dolphins defeated the 1972 Washington Redskins season, Washington Redskins in Super Bowl VII, with the Dolphins ending the season a perfect 17-0. This marked the first and only time that an NFL team has had a perfect undefeated season, an achievement the team holds to this day. * January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. President Richard Nixon announces the suspension of offensive action in North Vietnam. * January 17 – Ferdinand Marcos becomes President for Life of the Philippines. * January 22 ** ''Joe Frazier vs. George Foreman, The Sunshine Showdown'': George Foreman defeats Joe Frazier to win the heavyweight world boxing championship in Kingston, Jamaica. ** A Royal Jorda ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Corporate Crime
In criminology, corporate crime refers to crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity (see vicarious liability and corporate liability). For the worst corporate crimes, corporations may face judicial dissolution, sometimes called the "corporate death penalty", which is a legal procedure in which a corporation is forced to dissolve or cease to exist. Some negative behaviours by corporations may not actually be criminal; laws vary between jurisdictions. For example, some jurisdictions allow insider trading. Corporate crime overlaps with: * white-collar crime, because the majority of individuals who may act as or represent the interests of the corporation are white-collar professionals; * organized crime, because criminals may set up corporations either for the purposes of crime or as vehicles ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Defunct Financial Services Companies Of The United States
{{Disambiguation ...
Defunct may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is the process of becoming antiquated, out of date, old-fashioned, no longer in general use, or no longer useful, or the condition of being in such a state. When used in a biological sense, it means imperfect or rudimentary when comp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Financial Scandals
Finance refers to monetary resources and to the study and discipline of money, currency, assets and liabilities. As a subject of study, is a field of Business Administration wich study the planning, organizing, leading, and controlling of an organization's resources to achieve its goals. Based on the scope of financial activities in financial systems, the discipline can be divided into personal, corporate, and public finance. In these financial systems, assets are bought, sold, or traded as financial instruments, such as currencies, loans, bonds, shares, stocks, options, futures, etc. Assets can also be banked, invested, and insured to maximize value and minimize loss. In practice, risks are always present in any financial action and entities. Due to its wide scope, a broad range of subfields exists within finance. Asset-, money-, risk- and investment management aim to maximize value and minimize volatility. Financial analysis assesses the viability, stability, and p ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Fraud In The United States
In law, fraud is intentional deception to deprive a victim of a legal right or to gain from a victim unlawfully or unfairly. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensation) or criminal law (e.g., a fraud perpetrator may be prosecuted and imprisoned by governmental authorities), or it may cause no loss of money, property, or legal right but still be an element of another civil or criminal wrong. The purpose of fraud may be monetary gain or other benefits, such as obtaining a passport, travel document, or driver's licence. In cases of mortgage fraud, the perpetrator may attempt to qualify for a mortgage by way of false statements. Terminology Fraud can be defined as either a civil wrong or a criminal act. For civil fraud, a government agency or person or entity harmed by fraud may bring litigation to stop the fraud, seek monetary damages, or both. For criminal fraud, a person may be prosec ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Actuary
An actuary is a professional with advanced mathematical skills who deals with the measurement and management of risk and uncertainty. These risks can affect both sides of the balance sheet and require investment management, asset management, liability (financial accounting), liability management, and valuation skills. Actuaries provide assessments of financial security systems, with a focus on their complexity, their mathematics, and their mechanisms. The name of the corresponding academic discipline is actuarial science. While the concept of insurance dates to antiquity, the concepts needed to scientifically measure and mitigate risks have their origins in 17th-century studies of probability and annuities. Actuaries in the 21st century require analytical skills, business knowledge, and an understanding of human behavior and information systems; actuaries use this knowledge to design programs that manage risk, by determining if the implementation of strategies proposed for mit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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James Woods
James Howard Woods (born April 18, 1947) is an American actor. Known for fast-talking, intense roles on screen and stage, he has received numerous accolades, including three Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award, as well as nominations for two Academy Awards and three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He started his career in minor roles on and off- Broadway before making his Broadway debut in ''The Penny Wars'' (1969), followed by '' Borstal Boy'' (1970), '' The Trial of the Catonsville Nine'' (1971) and '' Moonchildren'' (1972). Woods' early film roles include '' The Visitors'' (1972), '' The Way We Were'' (1973) and '' Night Moves'' (1975). He starred in the NBC miniseries ''Holocaust'' (1978) opposite Meryl Streep. He rose to prominence portraying Gregory Powell in '' The Onion Field'' (1979). He earned two Academy Awards nominations: one for Best Actor for his role as journalist Richard Boyle in '' Salvador'' (1986) and for Best Supporting Actor for playing white suprema ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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The Billion Dollar Bubble
''The Billion Dollar Bubble'' is a 1976 film made for the BBC series ''Horizon'' and directed by Brian Gibson about the story of the two-billion-dollar insurance embezzlement scheme involving Equity Funding Corporation of America. The movie stars James Woods in the role of the actuary. It was broadcast in Britain on 8 November 1976. It was aired in America on NBC in prime time on June 8, 1978. Plot Temporarily unable to obtain current figures for their upcoming business report, Art Lewis and others in the insurance department of Equity Funding devise a plan to fabricate figures that total the company's expected performance for that year. When the company does not perform as well as expected, Art and others decide to create fake insurance policies to generate the necessary figures to match the expected performance, a provisional measure that is only intended to last a short time. To sustain the company's growth, more policies must be continually created. Art enlists the aid of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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History Of Information Technology Auditing
Information technology auditing (IT auditing) began as electronic data process (EDP) auditing and developed largely as a result of the rise in technology in accounting systems, the need for IT control, and the impact of computers on the ability to perform attestation services. The last few years have been an exciting time in the world of IT auditing as a result of the accounting scandals and increased regulation. IT auditing has had a relatively short yet rich history when compared to auditing as a whole and remains an ever-changing field. The introduction of computer technology into accounting systems changed the way data was stored, retrieved and controlled. It is believed that the first use of a computerized accounting system was at General Electric in 1954. During the time period of 1954 to the mid-1960s, the auditing profession was still auditing around the computer. At this time only mainframe computers were used and few people had the skills and abilities to program compute ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Whistleblower
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations. Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources, compliance, or a neutral third party within the company, hoping that the company will address and correct the issues. A whistleblower can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, such as the media, government, or law enforcement. Some countries legislate as to what constitutes a protected disclosure, and the permissible methods of presenting a disclosure. Whistleblowing can occur in the private sector or the public sector. Whistleblowers often face retaliation for their disclosure, including termination of emp ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |