Oh My Fraud Greg Kyte & Caleb Newquist

More than four years after the COVID-19 pandemic began, stories of regular people and their ill-fated schemes to exploit pandemic aid programs continue to emerge. In this episode, Caleb and Greg discuss some of the cases featured in the 2024 COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement Task Force Report.

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In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
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Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.com
Sources:
COVID-19 FRAUD ENFORCEMENT TASK FORCE 2024 REPORT [DOJ]How to Catch Pandemic Fraud? Prosecutors Try Novel Methods. [NYT]Maryland
Prince George’s County Man Pleads Guilty to a Federal Wire Fraud Conspiracy to Obtain Over $750,000 in COVID-19 CARES Act Loans and Unemployment Insurance Benefits [DOJ]Prince George’s County Man Pleads Guilty To A Federal Wire Fraud Conspiracy To Obtain Over $1 Million In Covid-19 Cares Act Loans And Unemployment Insurance Benefits [DOJ]Prince George’s County Man Sentenced to Seven Years in Federal Prison for a Conspiracy to Obtain Over $1 Million in COVID-19 CARES Act Loans and Unemployment Insurance Benefits [DOJ]Florida
Seventeen Broward Sheriff’s Office Employees Charged with COVID-19 Pandemic Relief Fraud [DOJ]Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy convicted at trial of COVID-19 relief fraud [DOJ]Florida Deputies Charged With Defrauding Covid Funds of Nearly $500,000 [NYT]Former Broward Sheriff’s Office deputy sentenced for Paycheck Protection Program fraud [Local10]South Florida Man Sentenced to Prison for Covid-19 Relief Fraud, After Buying Jewelry and Luxury Cars with Loan Money [DOJ]Miami woman sentenced to 70 months in prison after using COVID-19 funds to gamble and launder money [DOJ]Alpaca Farm
Former North Shore Pizzeria Owner Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for COVID Fraud [DOJ]Man Gets 2 Years in Prison for Spending Pandemic Money on Alpaca Farm [NYT]Final
New Jersey Tax Preparer Charged in COVID-19 Employment Tax Credit Scheme [DOJ]CFO, Controller, Corporate Officers Charged in $53 Million Fraud Scheme Involving Pandemic Relief [DOJ]Former Florida State Representative Sentenced To Federal Prison For Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, And Making False Statements In Connection With COVID-19 Relief Fraud [DOJ]

Think you’re too smart to be taken in by a fraudster? If so, that may make you an even bigger mark. In this episode, Caleb and Greg speak with psychologists Dan Simons of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Chris Chabris of the Geisinger Research Institute. Dan and Chris’s new book, “Nobody's Fool: Why We Get Taken In and What We Can Do About It,” goes deep on why we’re all potential victims of clever (or not-so-clever) scams.

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Buy Chris's and Dan's BooksNobody’s Fool 
The Invisible Gorilla
 Meet Our Guests:  Daniel Simons [X]
Daniel Simons [LinkedIn]http://www.dansimons.com
Christopher Chabris [X]
Christopher Chabris [LinkedIn]http://www.chabris.com
Invisible Gorilla Video [YouTube]
HOW TO EARN FREE CPE
In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
Download the app:
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app
Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.com

The US Postal Service has long been the butt of jokes for poor service, but nothing that comes close to this. In this transatlantic episode, Caleb and Greg unpack the story of hundreds of British subpostmasters whose lives were turned upside down when they were falsely accused of stealing from the Post Office. 

SponsorsG-Accon - https://ohmyfraud.promo/gacconKeeper - https://ohmyfraud.promo/keeperHarbor Compliance - https://ohmyfraud.promo/harbor
HOW TO EARN FREE CPE
In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
Download the app:
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app
Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.com
Sources: 
Post Office scandal explained: What the Horizon saga is all about — BBC
Secret papers reveal Post Office knew its court defence was false — BBC
British Post Office scandal — Wikipedia
Post Office Horizon scandal explained: Everything you need to know — Computer Weekly
Post Office scandal: from suicides to jail time with child killers — the heartbreaking stories of the postmasters — The Standard
A Brief History of the United States Postal Service -  The Smithsonian
The History of the Post Office — Automatic Access Limited Blog
Royal Mail - Wikipedia
A short history of the Post Office — The History Press 
Post office numbers — House of Commons Library
Subpostmasters get raw deal in Post Office pay structure - Apex Insights
How independent retailers can make money from Post Offices — The Grocer
How to start a post office — PDQ Funding

In many episodes, Greg cites statistics from “A Report to the Nations,” the biennial report on occupational fraud, from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners. As luck would have it, the most recent edition dropped in 2024, and so naturally, Caleb and Greg took the opportunity to discuss it.
HOW TO EARN FREE CPE
In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
Download the app:
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app
Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.com
Sources:
Occupational Fraud 2024: A Report To The Nations [ACFE]

We all have childhood dreams. Not all of us get to make them come true. In this episode, Caleb and Greg discuss the story of Frederick Darren Berg, who as a boy, developed a fascination with buses, and made them central to multiple ventures in his career.

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HOW TO EARN FREE CPEIn less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
Download the app:
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app
Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.com
Sources:
Darren Berg on the Run: Inside the Biggest Ponzi Scheme in Washington State History [Seattle Met]Financial empire, luxurious lifestyle were built on a mirage [Seattle Times]After spending spree, a reckoning for man behind state’s biggest Ponzi scheme [SeattlePI]Berg often portrayed himself as a lawyer [Seattle Times]Mercer Island Man Arrested for Ponzi Scheme and Bankruptcy Fraud Darren Berg Defrauded Investors and Allegedly Tried to Hide Assets During Bankruptcy [FBI]Mercer Island Man Sentenced to 18 Years in Prison for Ponzi Scheme and Bankruptcy Fraud [FBI]American Greed: ‘Seattle Roasted’ [American Greed]Inmate who defrauded investors more than $100 million escapes Atwater prison [Merced Sun-Star]Prison escape of Darren Berg, Washington’s ‘Mini Madoff,’ is like ‘Shawshank Redemption,’ official says [Seattle Times]Washington man who escaped prison following $100M Ponzi scheme possibly went to Brazil [AP]Darren Berg: A Ponzi Scheme Mastermind Escapes: Part 1 [The Perfect Scam]Darren Berg: A Ponzi Scheme Mastermind Escapes: Part 2 [The Perfect Scam]

Whistleblowers are essential to discovering fraud. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, more than 40 percent of frauds are discovered by a tip or whistleblower. In this episode, Caleb and Greg talk to one for the first time on Oh My Fraud. Anthony Menendez, “The Accountant Who Beat Halliburton,” recounts his saga as a whistleblower, and shares the many lessons he learned along his journey.

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Chapters(00:00) - Welcome to Oh My Fraud

(01:21) - The Halliburton Episode: A Prelude

(02:54) - Meet Tony Menendez: The Accountant Who Took on Halliburton

(04:27) - Tony's Early Life and Unexpected Path to Accounting

(09:22) - The Sarbanes-Oxley Era and Its Impact on Tony's Career

(11:21) - Tony's Transition to Halliburton and Initial Skepticism

(23:52) - Uncovering Accounting Irregularities at Halliburton

(29:20) - The Bill and Hold Controversy Explained

(37:14) - Raising Concerns and the Fallouts

(41:36) - The Fallout: Navigating Corporate Politics and Email Warnings

(46:37) - The SEC Steps In: A Whistleblower's Hope and Disappointment

(01:06:00) - The Fight for Whistleblower Rights: A Personal Battle

(01:11:25) - The Verdict: A Crushing Blow to Whistleblower Protections

(01:16:37) - Taking Matters into His Own Hands: The Appeal Process

(01:18:27) - A Glimmer of Hope: Winning the Appeal

(01:20:34) - Back to Square One: The Lower Court's Stubborn Stance

(01:23:46) - A Final Victory? The Appeals Court's Decision

(01:29:25) - The Aftermath: Life After Whistleblowing

(01:34:12) - A New Chapter: From Whistleblower to Professor

(01:37:23) - Thanks for Listening and Remember to Rate & Subscribe
CONNECT WITH TONY
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonyjmenendezLMU - https://cba.lmu.edu/academics//faculty/anthony.menendezHOW TO EARN FREE CPE
In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 1 hour of NASBA-approved accounting CPE after listening to this episode. Download our mobile app, sign up, and look for the Oh My Fraud channel. Register for the course, complete a short quiz, and get your CPE certificate.
Download the app:
Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app
Questions? Need help? Email support@earmarkcpe.com.CONNECT WITH THE HOSTS
Greg Kyte, CPATwitter: https://twitter.com/gregkyteLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkyte/
Caleb NewquistTwitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquistLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/
Email us at ohmyfraud@earmarkcpe.comReferences:The Whistleblower’s Tale: How An Accountant Took on Halliburton [ProPublica]
He fought Halliburton and won [Fraud Magazine]
I am a Halliburton Whistleblower. I fought them for 9 years and (eventually) won. Ask Me Anything. [Reddit]
Anthony J. Menendez [LinkedIn]
Anthony Menendez [Loyola Marymount University]