Subject Bibliography

FINANCIAL INSTITUTION FRAUD

"Fraud Defense Network." 2000. [http://www.frauddefense.com]. Abstract: Assists in the prevention, detection and investigation of fraudulent activity by, maintaining online investigative databases, providing access to investigative tools, providing opportunities for information sharing and connecting the anti-fraud community. Founded in 1994 at the request of several insurance companies.

"How Your Financial Privacy Is Threatened." Consumer's Research Magazine (December 1998): pp. 10-14.Notes: Available fulltext on WilsonWebAbstract: All across the United States information brokers and private investigators are stealing and selling for profit our fellow citizens' personal financial information. Fortunately, financial institutions constantly devise new technological strategies to combat fraud. While legislative efforts may also help, legal and technological protections are not impenetrable.

Britt, Phil. "High-Tech Identification Systems Come of Age." America's Community Banker (June 1998): pp. 22-27.Notes: Available fulltext on WilsonWebAbstract: Financial service providers need tighter security as they move from traditional to electronic payments. With the growing usage of automated teller machines performing increasingly more functions, there is a need for more secure, fraud-resistant, yet user-friendly means of personal identification.

Calavita, Kitty, et al. Big Money Crime. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1997.Call Number: HG 2151.C35 1997Abstract: Reexamines the record of the thrift debacle and the role of fraud in the industry's collapse, which is critical not only for our understanding of the dynamics of this sort of white-collar crime, but to put in place policies that will prevent such financial disasters in the future.

This bibliography is a representative selection of materials either owned or on order by the FBI Academy Library. Inclusion of an item does not represent an endorsement by the FBI of the material or its author.

Crime Alert Network. "National Check Fraud Center." 1999. [http://www.ckfraud.org/]. Abstract: A complete source for assistance-information and alert reports regarding counterfeit checks, forgery, check fraud, bank fraud and white-collar crimes.

Farrell, Bryan. "Expanding the Auditor's Consciousness: The Story of Alice and Wonderland Concepts Inc." Journal of Lending & Credit Risk Management (September 1999): pp. 63-67.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Learn how fraud can snowball and how one fraudster can seem to have "nine lives". A moral for this story could be "trust no one."

Foster, Beverly. "Finding Fraud." Journal of Lending & Credit Risk Management (May 1999): pp. 28-34.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Fraud can be defined as any attempted scheme to defraud a federally chartered or insured financial institution. This is an equal opportunity crime that affects all size banks, threatening earnings, operating efficiency, and reputation. Losses from fraud within bank and nonbank institutions alike occur in almost any area, not just cash.

Friedrichs, David O. Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime in Contemporary Society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing, 1996.Call Number: HV 6768.F75 1996Abstract: Explores the conceptual, metaphysical, and methodological issues involved in the study of white collar crime. It delves into the character, causes and consequences of this type of crime.

Gips, Michael A. "Where Has All the Money Gone?" Security Management (February 1998): pp. 32-40.Abstract: White collar crime is increasing. To turn the tide on this army of amoral profiteers, law enforcement is mustering new resources and enlisting the help of private business forces.

Glasberg, Davita and Dan Skidmore. "The Dialectics of White-Collar Crime: The Anatomy of the Savings and Loan Crisis and the Case of Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association." American Journal of Economics & Sociology (October 1998): pp. 423-49.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Analyzes the case of Silverado Banking, Savings and Loan Association to examine the behavioral effects of implementing a state policy of deregulation. The case suggests that state policy may not only regulate and restrict behavior, but actually contain defeating incentives that create corporate behaviors contradicting the policy's intention.

Null, Kevin. "One Bank's Fraud Fight." Security Management (February 2000): pp. 36-41.Abstract: There is a growing problem financial institutions are facing from counterfeit checks and other types of fraud. Sophisticated computer programs allow criminals to create corporate payroll checks that are nearly impossible to distinguish from the real thing. To counter this threat, security professionals need to understand the types of fraud that are occurring and develop protective strategies. Provident Bank's experiences are typical for the industry and are illustrative of the general issues facing institutions today.

O'Connell, Tim. "Keeping Check Fraud in Check." Security (September 1998): pp. 26-27.Abstract: Check fraud is the crime of the `90's. In the struggle to contain growth, fraud examiners are faced with a difficult task, to track and monitor financial transactions through the fractal-like complexity of the Electronic Age. Part cause, part cure; technology and partnering have become the key elements in today's fraud detection and prevention campaign.

Peterson, James R. "Fraud Reasserts Itself." ABA Banking Journal (February 2000): pp. 41-42.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Mortgage lending fraud is spreading like an infection from a few problem areas in the nation's sun belt to major cities across the country. Investigators divide mortgage lending fraud into 2 categories. The first is fraud committed by an individual who breaks the law by lying about his financial status or providing lenders with fake information. The second category, with far greater loss potential, is fraud for profit. This kind of fraud often involves the participation of an insider such as a loan officer.

Pizzo, Stephen, et al. Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings & Loans. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.Call Number: HG 2151.P59 1991Abstract: Americans have to pay the S&L bill, which continues to climb, and we have to use what we have learned in our study of the savings and loan tragedy to evaluate the issues that face us today. But before each citizen can evaluate those issues, a clear understanding of what happened to our savings and loans is a must. This book provides that understanding.

Prieston, Arthur and Jacqueline A. Dreyer. "Battling Fraud With Tougher Documents." Mortgage Banking (May 1999): pp. 69-73.Notes: Available fulltext on WilsonWebAbstract: Losses associated with mortgage fraud and financial integrity continue to haunt lenders, now more than ever. As with any perplexing disease, the more we learn about it, the more strains and variations are uncovered.

Puglisi, Robert M. "Crushing Loan Fraud." America's Community Banker (December 1999): pp. 28-31.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Banks have to rely on meticulous preparation, ingenuity and effort to prevent fraud losses. Most lending institutions have a compliance section in place. When functioning properly, compliance is an early warning system against fraudulent loan activity.

Rosoff, Stephen M., et al. Profit Without Honor. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1998.Call Number: HV 6769.R667 1998Abstract: Surveys the forms, causes, and consequences of white-collar crime: how these schemes work, who perpetrates them and how they are tied to the environments in which they occur. It also demonstrates the degree to which white-collar crime has become ingrained in our institutions and culture.

Subcommittee on General Oversight and Investigations, Committee on Banking and Financial Services House of Representatives. Money Laundering Regulatory Oversight of Offshore Banking Activities. Washington, DC: U.S. General Accounting Office, 1998.Call Number: GA 1.13:GGD-98-154Abstract: Although banking regulators believe that offshore private banking activities are generally used for legitimate reasons, there is some concern that they may also serve to camouflage money laundering and other illegal acts.

Tendy, Sheila. "Protecting Wholesalers From Fraud." Mortgage Banking (December 1998): pp. 36-41.Notes: Available fulltext on Lexis/NexisAbstract: Fraud is still lurking in the mortgage business. Wholesalers are particularly vulnerable to scams orchestrated by rings of outsiders. Here are some strategies for detecting and warding off loan fraud.

Thompson, Courtenay. "Irreconcilable Differences." Internal Auditor (August 1999): pp. 71-73.Notes: Available fulltext on InfotracAbstract: Brushing off bank reconciliations may be a prescription for trouble. It is very common for a company's accounting staff to fall behind on the bank reconciliations, thinking they will be able to catch up before the end of the year. Then, when they get around to reconciling all their statements they may discover that fictitious checks have cleared the company's bank accounts.

U.S. Department of Justice. Providing Services to Victims of Fraud: Resources for Victim/Witness Coordinators. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 1998.Call Number: J 34.2:V66/2Abstract: Contains a variety of informational materials for both the victims of fraud and federal personnel who assist them throughout the federal justice process.

U.S. Department of the Treasury. "Financial Crimes Enforcement Network." April 2000. [http://ww.ustreas.gov/fincen/]. Abstract: Supports domestic and international anti-money laundering efforts and fosters interagency and global cooperation through information collection, analysis and sharing, and technological assistance.

Weisman, Stewart L. Need and Greed: The Story of the Largest Ponzi Scheme in American History. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1999.Call Number: HV6769.W45 1999Abstract: Through manipulated financial statements, counterfeit securities, sham transactions and cyberfraud, the Bennetts of Syracuse spawned a Ponzi scheme of epic proportions. Need and Greed chronicles the rise and fall of the family that fleeced more than 12,000 investors, 10,000 business creditors, and 245 financial institutions nationwide out of $1 billion.

Wells, Joseph T. Occupational Fraud and Abuse. Austin, TX: Obsidian Publishing, 1997.Call Number: HV 6695.W45 1997Abstract: Occupational Fraud and Abuse will help the readers better understand the various ways fraud and occupational abuse occur, thus helping them identify exposures to loss, and appropriate prevention, detection and investigation approaches.

Williams, B. Federick and Frank D. Whitney. Federal Money Laundering: Crimes and Forfeitures. Charlottesville, VA: Lexis Law Publishing, 1999.Call Number: KF 1030.R3W54 1999Abstract: An in-depth analysis of issues involving money laundering crimes and forfeitures, with a discussion on how the courts have addressed the issues.

Wilmsen, Steven. Silverado. Washington, DC: National Press Books, 1991.Call Number: HG 2626.D395W55 1991Abstract: A gripping account of how a high-flying Western savings and loan came tumbling down.

Wing, Lisa K. "Looking Inward." LatinFinance (June 1998): pp. 57-58.Notes: Available fulltext on WilsonWebAbstract: Problems in private banking today are more often cases in which bankers mismanage client monies, rather than the money laundering scandals of the past.

Zalud, Bill. "Fighting the Liars." Security (September 1998): pp. 24-25.Abstract: Recently there has been a proliferation of business enterprises which specialize in selection and dissemination of personal financial information. Abuse and deceit by data brokers often involves telephoning bank call centers. The broker impersonates the search target to obtain bank account numbers, balance or similar private financial information.

Compiled by Marian Allen, 5/00