Connosseurs of Fraud -- Take Note

Two excellent blogs have come to my attention recently. They are essential reading for anyone wanting to really understand how companies work and why they go belly up.

One is Lee Distad's Professional Opinion, by one of the sharpest business bloggers there is, and the other is the FraudFiles Blog, by ace forensic accountant Tracy Coenen.

It just so happens that they both have items on Sam Antar's analysis of the Overstock.com-Patrick Byrne meltdown.

Here is a link to the item in Lee's blog and here is Tracy's view of the subject.

Lee observes as follows:

I really have only paid tangential attention to this whole bizarre and sordid tale of corporate malfeasance. And frankly, I don't have the stamina to bring you all up to speed. However, Sam "The Human Pitbull" Antar has sunk his jaws into this story, and like any good crusader/pitbull cross, he won't let go.

Tracy's take on the mess:

Sam [outlines] what Patrick Byrne has said about his knowledge and involvement with [Overstock's antisocialmedia.net corporate smear site] after the fact, versus what was posted on various sites at the time questions first came up about ASM. It appears Byrne was less than truthful.

The last statement may seem understated, but coming from Tracy it speaks volumes. It means that the SEC's probers are probably thinking along much the same lines.

© 2007 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.

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