Greed: investment fraud in Canada and around the globe

The case history of investment frauds is fascinating and can be quite amusing. Much has been written about people from Ponzi to Leeson, yet we know little about the forces that propel those who relieve unsuspecting investors of millions of dollars.

In her eminently readable new book, Greed: Investment Fraud in Canada and Around the Globe, business journalist Deborah Thompson gives us a glimpse of investment criminals. They come in all shapes and sizes: smooth operators, penny stock promoters, bogus traders, those who perpetrate fraud not for personal gains but to `save face,' embezzlers and white collar criminals, to name a few.

You will meet:

* a Lutheran minister who conned others but lost the money to a group of con artists himself;

* boiler room operators who flog worthless `gemstones' and penny stocks;

* the Sirianni brothers who manipulated the price of a VSE stock through 57 accounts with little money of their own;

* a group of people who manipulated the Winnipeg Commodity Exchange through fraud and ingenious schemes;

* Judith Manning, whose penny stock enterprise sold millions of worthless stocks;

* Christopher Horne (who besides gaining a reputation as a patron of the arts) forged clients' signatures and committed fraud amounting to over seven million dollars; and,

* Yasuo Hamanaka, the Tokyo copper trader at the centre of one of the most expensive international fraud cases.

In these days of impersonal communications over the telephone and the Internet, investors must be more cautious than ever. So what can we do? Thompson offers some tips:

* Don't buy anything over the phone unless you initiated the call;

* Don't fall for anyone who claims you have won something but must first pay taxes or fees;

* Senior citizens in particular should avoid schemes that are too good to be true;

* Check carefully your monthly and quarterly statements;

* If you surf the Internet don't give any personal information, until you check the website with proper authorities.

Thompson's account of greed is human and compassionate, documented and personal, funny and sad. This book is a cautionary tale for those who believe in a free lunch. Well worth reading.

Greed: Investment Fraud in Canada and Around the Globe by Deborah Thompson. Viking. $32.09. (Available at a discount from IAC. See page 14.)