An advance-fee scam is a form of fraud and is one of the most common types of confidence tricks. The scam typically involves promising the victim a significant share of a large sum of money, in return for a small up-front payment, which the fraudster claims will be used to obtain the large sum. If a victim makes the payment, the fraudster either invents a series of further fees for the victim to pay or simply disappears.
Dame Margaret Natalie Smith is an English actress. Known for her wit in comedic roles, she has had an extensive career on stage and screen over seven decades and is one of Britain's most recognisable and prolific actresses. She has received numerous accolades including two Academy Awards, five BAFTA Awards, four Emmy Awards, three Golden Globe Awards, and a Tony Award, making her one of the few performers to earn the Triple Crown of Acting.
The Negotiator is a 1998 American action thriller film directed by F. Gary Gray. It stars Samuel L. Jackson and Kevin Spacey as Chicago police lieutenants who are expert hostage negotiators. The film was released in the United States on July 29, 1998, receiving generally positive reviews from critics and grossing $88 million worldwide. The film is considered by many to be one of Jackson’s most underrated films.
Embezzlement is a term commonly used for a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking advantage of their position to steal funds or assets, most commonly over a period of time.
Bank fraud is the use of potentially illegal means to obtain money, assets, or other property owned or held by a financial institution, or to obtain money from depositors by fraudulently posing as a bank or other financial institution. In many instances, bank fraud is a criminal offence.
Suzanne Pleshette was an American actress. Pleshette was known for her roles in theatre, film, and television. She received nominations for three Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards. For her role as Emily Hartley on the CBS sitcom The Bob Newhart Show (1972–1978) she received two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
Cheque fraud, or check fraud, refers to a category of criminal acts that involve making the unlawful use of cheques in order to illegally acquire or borrow funds that do not exist within the account balance or account-holder's legal ownership. Most methods involve taking advantage of the float to draw out these funds. Specific kinds of cheque fraud include cheque kiting, where funds are deposited before the end of the float period to cover the fraud, and paper hanging, where the float offers the opportunity to write fraudulent cheques but the account is never replenished.
Marriott International, Inc. is an American multinational company that operates, franchises, and licenses lodging brands that include hotel, residential, and timeshare properties. Marriott International owns over 30 hotel and timeshare brands with 8,785 locations and 1,597,380 rooms across its network. Marriott International is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland. The company was founded by J. Willard Marriott (1900–1985) and his wife Alice Marriott (1907–2000).
David Begelman was an American film producer, film executive and talent agent who was involved in a studio embezzlement scandal in the 1970s.
Brian Molony is a Canadian self-admitted former compulsive gambler from Toronto, known for embezzling millions from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), the second-largest bank in Canada.
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1958 American drama film directed by Richard Brooks, who co-wrote the screenplay with James Poe, based on the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name by Tennessee Williams. The film stars Elizabeth Taylor, Paul Newman, Burl Ives, Jack Carson, and Judith Anderson.
How to Beat the High Cost of Living is a 1980 American comedy heist film directed by Robert Scheerer and starring Susan Saint James, Jane Curtin, and Jessica Lange. Set in the aftermath of the economic recession of the 1970s, the film follows three women in suburban Oregon who, each facing personal and financial crises and desperate for money, devise a plan to steal a large amount of cash from a giveaway event in the local shopping mall. The film features supporting performances by Dabney Coleman, Fred Willard, Richard Benjamin, Eddie Albert, Scott Elliott, Cathryn Damon, Sybil Danning, and a cameo by Curtin's fellow Saturday Night Live co-star Garrett Morris.
Death on the Nile is a 1978 British mystery film based on Agatha Christie's 1937 novel of the same name, directed by John Guillermin and adapted by Anthony Shaffer. The film features the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot, played by Peter Ustinov for the first time, plus an all-star supporting cast that includes Maggie Smith, Angela Lansbury, Bette Davis, Mia Farrow, Jane Birkin, David Niven, George Kennedy, and Jack Warden. The film is a standalone sequel to the 1974 film Murder on the Orient Express.
Evil Under the Sun is a 1982 British mystery film based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Agatha Christie and directed by Guy Hamilton. Peter Ustinov stars as Hercule Poirot, the Belgian detective whom he had previously played in Death on the Nile (1978).
The Norbourg scandal is a major financial scandal that took place in 2005. The scandal involved the Montreal, Quebec based Norbourg Financial Group, a trust-fund company founded by Vincent Lacroix. He diverted money from a Norbourg trust fund for personal interests. Nearly 9,200 investors in Quebec lost millions of dollars. It is considered as one of the largest Canadian financial scandals in history and largest in Quebec.
Travels with My Aunt is a 1972 American comedy film directed by George Cukor, written by Jay Presson Allen and Hugh Wheeler, and starring Maggie Smith. The film is loosely based on the 1969 novel of the same name by Graham Greene. The film's plot retains the book's central theme of the adventurous, amoral aunt and her respectable middle class nephew drawn in to share her life, and also features her various past and present lovers who were introduced in the book, while providing this cast of characters with different adventures to the ones thought up by Greene, in different locales. It was released on December 17, 1972.
First Family is a 1980 American comedy film written and directed by comedian and actor Buck Henry, and starring Bob Newhart, Madeline Kahn, Gilda Radner, Harvey Korman, Rip Torn, Austin Pendleton, Fred Willard and Richard Benjamin. It received negative reviews.
Versailles Group plc was a FTSE-250, London-based trade finance company that was engaged in mezzanine lending and gap finance. The legal form of each of these transactions was that Versailles bought and sold goods and raw materials, the substance of the transactions was that Versailles financed its clients’ purchases of raw materials and subsequent sales of goods. Versailles was listed on Alternative Investment Market in September 1995 and transferred to the main London Stock Exchange in October 1997. In December 1999, trading in Versailles shares was suspended and in early 2000, the company was placed in administrative receivership.
The Night of January 16th is a 1941 American crime drama film directed by William Clemens, based on a 1934 play of the same name by Ayn Rand. The story follows Steve Van Ruyle and Kit Lane as they investigate the apparent murder of Lane's boss, in an attempt to clear her as a suspect.
Ausaf Umar Siddiqui also known as Omar Siddiqui, is a Pakistani-American former corporate executive who was a vice president of Fry's Electronics. He is known to have gambled over $162 million in Las Vegas from 2005 to 2008 after embezzling money from his employer through money-laundering and wire fraud. He pled guilty and declared bankruptcy in 2011 after remaining listed as $137 million in debt.
