// the pitch, and the collapse

The numbers were always a lie.

Documented case files of frauds that ran for years and then collapsed into a prosecution — Ponzis, fake companies, cooked books, and confidence schemes — each traced from the pitch to the unraveling to the sentence, with the losses, the method, and the lessons.

15 documented frauds Updated Jun 8, 2026

LC-001 · 2009

Ponzi scheme · New York

Bernie Madoff — the trusted name that hid an empty vault

feeder-funds ponzi convicted sentenced 1990s-2000s

Arrested Dec 2008 · 150 yrs, 2009 · Convicted

LC-002 · 1920

Ponzi scheme · Boston

Charles Ponzi — the coupon arbitrage that never bought a coupon

ponzi convicted 1900-1959

Run Aug 1920 · arrested Aug 12, 1920 · Convicted

LC-003 · 2006

Accounting fraud · Houston

Enron — the off-books machine that hid a collapsing company

accounting-fraud special-purpose-entities convicted 1990s-2000s

Bankrupt Dec 2001 · convicted May 2006 · Convicted

LC-004 · 2012

Ponzi scheme · Antigua

Allen Stanford — the offshore bank that sold certainty and held nothing

offshore-bank ponzi convicted sentenced 2010s-plus

SEC Feb 2009 · 110 yrs, June 2012 · Convicted

LC-005 · 2022

Securities fraud · Silicon Valley

Elizabeth Holmes — a single drop of blood that proved nothing

fake-technology investor-fraud convicted 2010s-plus

Convicted Jan 2022 · 135 mos, Nov 2022 · Convicted

LC-006 · 2009

Ponzi scheme · Minnesota

Tom Petters — purchase orders for merchandise that never existed

fake-inventory ponzi convicted sentenced 1990s-2000s

Convicted Dec 2009 · 50 yrs, 2010 · Convicted

LC-007 · 2005

Accounting fraud · Mississippi

Bernard Ebbers — an expense relabeled as an asset, eleven billion times

accounting-fraud convicted 1990s-2000s

Convicted Mar 2005 · 25 yrs · Convicted

LC-008 · 2008

Ponzi scheme · Orlando

Lou Pearlman — the boy bands were real, the bank was not

fake-companies ponzi convicted died-in-prison 1990s-2000s

Arrested Jun 2007 · 25 yrs, 2008 · Convicted

LC-009 · 1988

Securities fraud · Los Angeles

Barry Minkow — a teenage stock darling built on staged ruins

fake-company stock-fraud convicted 1960s-80s

Convicted Dec 1988 · 25 yrs · Convicted

LC-010 · 2010

Ponzi scheme · Fort Lauderdale

Scott Rothstein — settlements that never existed, sold by the case

fake-settlements ponzi convicted sentenced 2010s-plus

Surrendered Dec 2009 · 50 yrs, 2010 · Convicted

LC-011 · 2009

Securities fraud · New York

Marc Dreier — the lawyer who sold notes that never existed

impersonation note-fraud convicted 1990s-2000s

Arrested Dec 2008 · 20 yrs, 2009 · Convicted

LC-012 · 2023

Securities fraud · New York

Sam Bankman-Fried — the exchange that spent its customers’ deposits

commingling crypto-fraud convicted 2010s-plus

Convicted Nov 2023 · 25 yrs, 2024 · Convicted

LC-013 · 2012

Embezzlement · Iowa

Russell Wasendorf — twenty years of forged statements, one post office box

embezzlement forged-statements convicted sentenced 2010s-plus

Confessed Jul 2012 · 50 yrs, 2013 · Convicted

LC-014 · 2002

Ponzi scheme · California

Reed Slatkin — the minister whose investment club held no investments

affinity-fraud ponzi convicted sentenced 1990s-2000s

Bankrupt May 2001 · 14 yrs, 2003 · Convicted

LC-015 · 1996

Securities fraud · New York

Eddie Antar — the discounter who skimmed cash, then faked the profits

skimming stock-fraud convicted extradited 1990s-2000s

Guilty plea 1996 · 82 mos, 1997 · Convicted