President Trump pardoned Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who was convicted of securities fraud in October 2022, after Milton donated $1.8M to Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign. The pardon effectively eliminates $695.2 million in potential restitution to Nikola shareholders and prevents further …
After nearly a decade of systematic fraud, multiple investigations, Congressional hearings, and billions in penalties, the Wells Fargo fake accounts scandal concludes with a stark scorecard that defines two-tiered justice in American finance: 3.5 million fraudulent accounts affecting millions of …
Wells Fargo terminates between 100 and 125 employees for fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds through the SBA’s Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. Employees created fake profiles and made false representations to receive advances of up to $10,000 from the pandemic relief …
Wells Fargo agrees to pay $3 billion to resolve criminal and civil investigations by the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission into sales practices that created millions of unauthorized accounts between 2002 and 2016. In a deferred prosecution agreement, Wells Fargo formally …
The Department of Justice announces it will not bring criminal charges against any Wells Fargo executives for their roles in the fake accounts scandal, instead accepting a deferred prosecution agreement with the corporation. Despite Wells Fargo’s admission that “top Community Bank …
Wells Fargo announces that its fake accounts scandal affected approximately 3.5 million accounts—a 67% increase from the initial estimate of 2.1 million accounts disclosed during the 2016 settlement. The revised analysis covers January 2009 to September 2016, nearly twice the timeframe of the …
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf resigns effective immediately, ending his 34-year career at the bank amid the fake accounts scandal. Despite calls from Senator Elizabeth Warren and others for him to forfeit his compensation and face criminal charges, Stumpf departs with approximately $130-137 million in …
Following intense Congressional pressure and public outrage, Wells Fargo announces that CEO John Stumpf will forfeit $41 million in unvested stock awards and his 2016 salary and bonus. The clawback represents the board’s first attempt to impose financial consequences on senior leadership for …
Wells Fargo CEO John Stumpf testifies before the Senate Banking Committee in a hearing titled “An Examination of Wells Fargo’s Unauthorized Accounts and the Regulatory Response.” Senator Elizabeth Warren delivers a devastating confrontation, accusing Stumpf of “gutless …
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and Los Angeles City Attorney announce a combined $185 million settlement with Wells Fargo for the systematic creation of more than two million unauthorized deposit and credit card accounts. The CFPB assesses a $100 …
On March 29, 2016, a coalition of 17 state attorneys general announced coordinated investigations into ExxonMobil for potential climate denial fraud at a daylong climate change conference in Manhattan. Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey and Virgin Islands Attorney General Claude Walker …
On September 16, 2015, InsideClimate News began publishing an eight-month investigation revealing that Exxon’s own scientists warned executives as early as 1977 that burning fossil fuels was heating the planet, yet the company then worked at the forefront of climate denial for decades. The …
The Los Angeles Times investigates Wells Fargo’s aggressive sales practices, revealing systematic pressures on employees to create unauthorized accounts. The investigation exposes a corporate culture that incentivized fraud, with employees opening fake accounts to meet impossible sales quotas. …
On June 21, 2013, U.S. District Judge Sim Lake approved a deal reducing former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s prison sentence from 24 years to 14 years—a 10-year reduction that symbolized the erosion of corporate accountability in the decade following the Enron prosecutions. The sentence …
Wells Fargo begins systematically firing approximately 5,300 low-level employees between 2011 and 2016 for creating unauthorized customer accounts, while the senior executives who designed the sales incentive systems and set impossible quotas face no disciplinary action. The firings demonstrate a …
Wells Fargo employees begin a systematic scheme to create unauthorized bank and credit card accounts, ultimately affecting 3.5 million customer accounts over five years. Driven by aggressive sales targets and compensation incentives, employees open accounts without customer consent, forge …
On October 23, 2006, former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling was sentenced to 24 years and four months in federal prison for his role in the Enron fraud, representing one of the harshest sentences ever imposed on a corporate executive. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also ordered Skilling to forfeit …
On July 5, 2006, Kenneth Lay died of a heart attack at his vacation home in Aspen, Colorado, just six weeks after being convicted on all six counts of fraud and conspiracy in the Enron scandal. Lay, 64, was pronounced dead at Aspen Valley Hospital at 3:11 a.m. A preliminary autopsy reported he died …
On May 25, 2006, a federal jury convicted Enron founder Kenneth Lay on all six counts of fraud and conspiracy, and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling on 19 of 28 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy. The verdicts marked a watershed moment in corporate accountability, holding top …
On July 13, 2005, former WorldCom CEO Bernard Ebbers was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating the largest corporate accounting fraud in American history. The sentence, handed down by U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones in Manhattan, represented one of the harshest penalties ever …
Between 2005 and 2024, the United States operated a two-tiered bankruptcy system that weaponized debt against students and working Americans while preserving bankruptcy as a strategic wealth-preservation tool for corporations and the wealthy—a defining example of 21st century American kleptocracy. …
On July 7, 2004, a federal grand jury indicted Enron founder and former CEO Kenneth Lay on 11 counts of securities fraud, wire fraud, and making false statements to banks. The indictment charged that Lay repeatedly lied to investors, employees, and federal regulators about Enron’s …
On September 12, 2002, Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau indicted former Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski, CFO Mark Swartz, and General Counsel Mark Belnick on charges of looting at least $600 million from the company through fraudulent loans and unauthorized stock sales. The …
On July 30, 2002, President George W. Bush signed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act into law, calling it “the most far-reaching reforms of American business practices since the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt.” The legislation passed with overwhelming bipartisan support—423 to 3 in the House and 99 …
On July 21, 2002, WorldCom filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing $107 billion in assets and $41 billion in debt—making it the largest bankruptcy in American history. The filing came just 26 days after the company disclosed $3.8 billion in accounting fraud, demonstrating the speed at …
On June 25, 2002, WorldCom, the second-largest telecommunications company in the United States, announced it would restate its financial statements after discovering $3.8 billion in fraudulent accounting entries. The company admitted that “certain transfers” from line cost expenses to …
On June 15, 2002, a federal jury convicted Arthur Andersen LLP of obstruction of justice for shredding thousands of Enron-related documents. The verdict effectively destroyed one of the world’s most prestigious accounting firms, eliminating 85,000 jobs globally and marking the last time a …
On March 14, 2002, the U.S. Department of Justice announced the indictment of Arthur Andersen LLP on one count of obstruction of justice for destroying “literally tons of paper documents and other electronic information” related to the Enron collapse. The indictment, handed down by a …
On January 9, 2002, Arthur Andersen, one of the “Big Five” accounting firms, publicly admitted that its employees had destroyed “several tons” of Enron-related documents and deleted nearly 30,000 emails and computer files during October and November 2001. CEO Joseph Berardino …
Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, marking the largest corporate bankruptcy in U.S. history at the time, with $63.4 billion in assets. The collapse revealed extensive corporate fraud orchestrated by CEO Kenneth Lay and President Jeffrey Skilling, who manipulated financial statements and …
Enron filed for bankruptcy after a series of meetings between its executives, Vice President Dick Cheney, and the National Energy Policy Development Group. The bankruptcy exposed massive corporate fraud, with the company having claimed $101 billion in revenues but ultimately collapsing due to …
On October 22, 2001, the Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was formally investigating Enron’s suspicious dealings with partnerships controlled by CFO Andrew Fastow, characterizing them as “some of the most opaque transactions with insiders ever seen.” Enron’s …
On October 16, 2001, Enron announced a $618 million quarterly loss, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s downfall. The loss was largely attributed to a one-time charge for terminating “certain structured finance arrangements” known as the Raptors, which were partnerships …