Fraud Investigation Business Booms in Weak Economy

Scott Stern was shot once and stabbed four times during his 12-year military- and law-enforcement career.

A long scar on his left knee from one attack is a permanent reminder of why Stern decided to take the security and investigation skills he honed in the public sector into private industry 14 years ago.

Fraud Investigator Discovers Lying Execs

Broadcom Corp. "terminated" a senior vice president whose resume listed degrees from UC Irvine that he never earned.

In a filing Tuesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Broadcom said the employment of Vahid Manian, senior vice president of global manufacturing operations "was terminated. A search has commenced to find his successor."

Manian, who has worked at Broadcom since 1996, earned $3.28 million in 2007, overseeing production of chips used in such products as the Apple iPhone, the Nintendo Wii and computer networking products.

Crushing Bottle Deposit Fraud

The bottle and can return machines at Hi-Lite Super Market in Monroe are one target of a growing scam that's hitting Michigan and its beverage distributors with million-dollar losses: collecting 10-cent refunds on returnable containers for which no deposit was paid.

Conveniently just 12 miles north of the state line, the grocery is one of many shops in southern Michigan where free money is available through the "return" of nondeposit empties from beverages bought in Indiana, Ohio or other states without bottle deposit laws.

Scam Places "Skimmers" on ATMs

Bank card users should be cautious when using ATMs this holiday season.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office fraud department is investigating an ATM scam that netted two suspects $30,000.

Nikolov Nikoliy, 23, and Yordan Kavalov, 29, were arrested Nov. 6 at a Powers Ferry Road ATM location after using “skimmers” to tap into several bank card customer accounts, said Lt. Mike Reece, head of the fraud unit.

They are being held without bond.