How to get away with fraud (2018)

theguardian.com

20 points·mr_golyadkin··6 comments

> bordering on arrogance

I've known a number of traders.

I wouldn't call it "bordering." In fact, from my experience, they are so far in-country, the border is a distant memory.

One misaligned incentive that jumps out at me: if an analyst (working for an investor) finds something that looks like fraud in a company, do they have any motive to expose the fraud to investors besides the one hiring them? Are they even allowed to?

Yes. This is what some short sellers do: if they uncover what they think is fraud, they short the stock then publish their evidence. If the fraud is confirmed then they can have a huge payday when the stock collapses.

Like Marc Cohodes, a famous short seller who made a fortune exposing many frauds.

FWIW back when The New-York Times was still too busy presenting SBF as the second coming of Christ, Marc Cohodes was telling the world that they had shit in their eyes (he's not the most polite when he talks about scummy thieves) and that it was obvious that this complete no-name that SBF was was a complete fraud.

He likes to make video where he takes an axe and explains he's been short selling and that now he's coming for fraudsters' heads (while making millions in the process).

The media doesn't care. They just want to move product. They are indifferent between exposing SBF as a fraudster or celebrating him as a golden god--they want the easy path to revenues. And, of course, a lot of reporters tend to be susceptible to idolatry. To be reductive, reporters are either muckrakers to starf_cukers.

Was totally expecting : “commit fraud, get caught, then launch a counter lawsuit against the SEC saying they have no power to regulate, get it in front of the current US Supreme Court. They’ll believe it.”

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