Barry Minkow

Barry Minkow's story may just be the ultimate tale of "Catch Me If You Can." Before age 21, Barry was a national hero--the Wall Street wiz kid celebrated for taking his carpet cleaning company public to the tune of 280 million dollars. He was on Oprah twice, and remains to this day the youngest chairman and CEO of a publicly traded company in the history of Wall Street.        

However, no one knew that Barry was also involved with the mob. Over the next year, Barry's company, ZZZZ Best, defrauded his investors and banks, pocketed hundreds of millions in illicit money.        

Caught and prosecuted, Barry served seven years and four months in prison, most in maximum security. He was released in 1995, and after seven years of voluntarily paying back victims, the judge, in 2002, dismissed the 26 million dollar restitution order, eliminated the final 3 years of his probation, and ordered Barry to help fight corporate fraud. To this day, Barry continues to voluntarily repay the one remaining victim.          

Today, a consultant and trainer to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, Barry has co-founded the Fraud Discovery Institute (FDI), a company that uses ex-cons alongside seasoned auditors to prevent and detect white collar fraud at the highest levels. An accomplished author and speaker, Barry also travels the country speaking to executives and investors alike about the dangers of corporate fraud and the techniques criminals use to deceive victims. He appears regularly on Fox News Channel and CNN as an expert on fraud, as well.          

Since last September, Barry has made national headlines in such media as The Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Associated Press, and Los Angeles Times by uncovering several major fraud schemes to the tune of 1 billion dollars. One of these cases, involving southern California-based company Financial Advisory Consultants, is believed to be the longest running Ponzi scheme in history (20 years), affecting over 5,000 investors to the tune of 800 million dollars.