Barry Minkow

For the first part of his life, Barry Minkow made headlines for being the youngest person in United States business history to take a company public through an S-1 registration statement before he was 21 years old. However, his company, ZZZZ Best Co., Inc. (which at one time had a $300 million dollar public stock evaluation) was built on fraud and deceit. In an unprecedented case for its era, Barry Minkow was able to secure three clean audit opinions from two separate accounting firms, a cold comfort letter on the ZZZZ Best Co., Inc. registration statement from a large, prestigious Wall Street law firm, another quarterly review and cold comfort letter from a Big 8 accounting firm. He amassed over $20 million in loans from 15 different banks, including three investment banks and several private individuals – all for a company whose actual revenues were 90% less than what they reported and who never earned a profit in the five years ZZZZ Best Co., Inc. was in business (October 1982 to July 1987).

Unlike most white-collar criminals, Barry Minkow did not receive a slap on the wrist and an 18-month stay at a golf course prison camp for his crimes. Quite the contrary… Mr. Minkow served more time in custody than Michael Milken, Nick Lesson and Leona Helmsley combined. He served his sentence in maximum and medium security facilities and his cellmate was serving time for murder. As a result of this long prison stay, no one is better equipped to talk about the consequences of compromise than Barry Minkow. His incarceration time totaled seven years and four months (January 1988 to April 1995).

Since his release from prison, Mr. Minkow has traveled the country speaking to law enforcement agencies like the FBI, public accounting firms, the Institute of Internal Auditors, private business, and even the Pentagon. His subject matter varies from disclosing the techniques perpetrators use to deceive their victims to the methodology of circumventing current due diligence (that is used by banks and accounting firms) to the psychology of fraud. He draws not only on his experiences from ZZZZ Best; but also from his seven plus years of prison where he met some of the nation’s leading white-collar criminals.

Mr. Minkow also earned a Masters of Divinity Degree from Liberty University and serves as the senior pastor of Community Bible Church in San Diego, California (March 1997 to present). He speaks at non-profit organizations for little or no fee; always stressing how the line between legal and illegal can become blurry when faced with economic pressure. For the last 12 years, Mr. Minkow has made monthly restitution payments to the victims of the ZZZZ Best fraud. He has written two books (proceeds went to the victims of the ZZZZ Best fraud), hosted a national radio show on the Business News Network for four years, and is a frequent guest on many television shows.

Barry Minkow is an executive and co-founder of the Fraud Discovery Institute, a company that uses ex-convicts alongside seasoned auditors to prevent and detect ongoing white-collar fraud. Mr. Minkow is also a consultant and trainer to the FBI and other law enforcement agencies, specializing in identifying fraud at the highest levels that the authorities are not aware of, and stopping the crime.

Although not a licensed private investigator, since September 2003 Mr. Minkow has made national headlines in such media as The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Associated Press, Dow Jones, Time Magazine, U.S. News & World Report and Los Angeles Times by uncovering over six major fraud schemes to the tune of 1.1 billion dollars. One of these cases, involving Southern California-based 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. Other recent findings include Chicago D&P, a real estate scam targeting U.S. Marines and churches, and Ware Enterprises, a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme targeting players in the NFL.

Mr. Minkow speaks to executives and investors alike about the dangers of corporate fraud and the techniques criminals use to deceive victims. As an expert on fraud, he has appeared on national television networks including Fox News, CNN and CNBC.