Following her sudden resignation, the longtime treasurer of a small Arizona county faces questions about her time in office.

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• (00:00) - An Unexpected Resignation

In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 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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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/

Sources:

• Santa Cruz County’s Industry Clusters [SantaCruzCenter.org]
• County Treasurer Elizabeth Gutfahr resigns [Nogales International]
• Unrecorded money transfers trigger FBI investigation on former Santa Cruz Co. treasurer [News4Tucson]
• County Tells School, Fire Districts That Over $4 Million Has Disappeared [Patagonia Regional Times]
• County BOS, SEFD, Sonoita School District Release Statements on Missing Funds [Patagonia Regional Times]
• Supervisors Told $39.4 Million in County Funds Is Missing [Patagonia Regional Times]
• Report sheds light on Santa Cruz Co. Treasurer's alleged theft of $39 million [KGUN]
• A Santa Cruz County official is accused of stealing $39M. A lawmaker wants tighter controls [Arizona Republic]
• Santa Cruz County v. Elizabeth Gutfahr, et al.
• U.S. v. Elizabeth Gutfahr
• Former Arizona Elected Official Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement of More than $38M of County Funds [DOJ]
• Former Santa Cruz County Treasurer Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison for Stealing Over $38 Million in County Funds [DOJ]
• “One of the dumbest…crimes in Arizona state history” [KGUN]

Email us at [email protected]

When Johnathan Walton learned that his best friend had conned him out of nearly $100,000, his first instinct was a little unusual—he told anyone who would listen about what happened. The story that ensued consumed his life for several years, ultimately sending his career in unexpected directions, with a hit podcast, assisting other victims with their frauds, and now, his new book, Anatomy of a Con Artist.

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• (00:00) - Introduction and Podcast Overview

In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 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.

https://www.earmark.app/

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Sources:

Queen of the Con [Spotify]

Queen of the Con [Instagram]

johnathanwalton.com

Email us at [email protected]

Caleb knew that if he could get Becca Platsky, the co-host of the Corporate Gossip Podcast, to come on Oh My Fraud, that they would have a lot to talk about. Becca and Caleb learn that they are kindred spirits, discussing their experiences not only as scorned CPAs, but as earnest gossip merchants. 

Sponsors
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• (00:00) - Introduction and CPE

In less than 10 minutes, you can earn 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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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebeccaplatsky

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/

Check out Corporate Gossip Pod

• Corporate Gossip Podcast
• Facebook Part 1: Sheryl Sandberg & the Curse of the BOB
• Facebook Part 2: Mark Zuckerberg & The Curse of the Baby Bangs

Email us at [email protected]

Carlos Watson, a charismatic, fast-rising media figure, strives to build a new kind of digital media company.

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• (00:00) - The Ozy Media Controversy Begins

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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Sources:

• From kindergarten delinquent to star [The Hill]
• From Silicon Valley to CNN [Stanford Lawyer via Wayback Machine]
• Get to know Carlos Watson [Blast Magazine via Wayback Machine]
• Ozymandias [Wikipedia]
• About Ozy [via Wayback Machine]
• WGBH to debut ‘Point Taken,’ a new late-night debate TV show taped in Boston [Boston.com]
• A Bunch Of Digital Publishers Bought Cheap Traffic And Later Found Out It Was Fraudulent [BuzzFeed News]
• Exclusive: OZY hits profitability on $50 million in revenue [Axios]
• Goldman Sachs, Ozy Media and a $40 Million Conference Call Gone Wrong [NYT]
• Ozy’s board starts an investigation after a Times report raises questions about the company. [NYT]
• Ozy Built a TV Show on a False Claim, Says Its Former Producer [NYT]
• Ozy Media’s chairman resigns as company faces questions. [NYT]
• Sharon Osbourne says Ozy Media founder Carlos Watson lied when he claimed the Osbournes invested in his company [CNBC]
• Ozy says it’s great at discovering big names before the mainstream media. But is it? [Nieman Lab]
• How Ozy Media, a startup with $70 million in funding and a star-studded list of investors, collapsed in 6 days [Fortune]
• How Ozy fell [Axios]
• 18-hour days and panic attacks: Former Ozy staffers allege an abusive environment [CNN]
• Ozy Media CEO claims his scandal-ridden company will reopen, but doesn’t explain how [CNBC]
• Ozy Media’s Watson on path forward: We’re going to have to change substantially [CNBC]
• Ozy Media CEO Carlos Watson: 'This Is Our Lazarus Moment' [Today via YouTube]
• After Ozy’s Carlos Watson Talks of a Comeback, a Key Investor Objects [NYT]
• Let Me Tell You What It Was Like to Work at Ozy [NYT]
• Ozy Media Is A Monumental Bummer [Defector]
• Ozy Media Faces Federal Investigations [NYT]
• Carlos Watson Has a Cold [Puck]
• Latest NewsOzy Media CEO Carlos Watson Says a Fun Redesign Is on the Horizon [Tech Bullion via Wayback]
• Article About the New, ‘Ethical’ Ozy Media Appears to Have Been Written by a Fake Journalist [Vice]
• Media company Ozy is attempting a comeback [Semafor]
• Ozy Media and Its Founder Carlos Watson Indicted in a Years-Long Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme [DOJ]
• SEC Charges Ozy Media and its CEO Carlos Watson with Widespread Scheme to Defraud Investors [SEC]
• U.S. v. Carlos Watson, Ozy Media, Inc. [Indictment]
• Ozy Statement, March 1, 2023 [X/Twitter]
• Ozy Media Shuts Down After Founder Carlos W...

Omri Mor’s experience with technology and startups began early, being a kid and hanging out at Microsoft Israel where both his parents worked. Omri tells Caleb about his journey of growing up in Tel Aviv, working at his first startup when he was 18 to the conversation over hummus he had that led to the creation of Routable.

Learn More About Routable
https://www.routable.com/
 
Connect with Omri
https://www.linkedin.com/in/omrimor

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.

https://www.earmark.app/

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For the last 25 years, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has collected reports from victims of online scams, and its latest annual report found that Internet-based fraud shows no signs of slowing down.

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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.

https://www.earmark.app/

Download the app:

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Sources:

• IC3 Turns 20 [FBI]
• Internet Crime Complaint Center Marks 20 Years [FBI]
• Avoid Scams: Online Sales and Auction Fraud [Secret Service]
• FBI Releases Annual Internet Crime Report [FBI]
• Internet Crime Report 2024 [FBI]
• List of U.S. states and territories by population [Wiki]
• Operation Level-Up: How the FBI Is Saving Victims from Cryptocurrency Investment Fraud [FBI]
• International Cybercrime Malware Service Dismantled by Federal Authorities: Key Malware Sales and Support Actors in Malta and Nigeria Charged in Federal Indictments [DOJ]
• IC3.gov
• Cybercriminals and scammers stole a record $16B in 2024, new FBI report says [USA Today]
• FBI says online scams raked in $16.6 billion last year [NBC News]
• Scammers stole $16.6 billion from victims last year [Axios]
• Cybercrime losses up to $16 billion in 2024, FBI says in annual report on Internet crimes [UPI]
• Column | Scam losses hit almost $17 billion. The fix is bigger than self-help. [Washington Post]

An ambitious New Orleans banker gets in over his head.

Sponsors
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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.

https://www.earmark.app/

Download the app:

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Email us at [email protected]

Sources:

• Banc One to Pay $3 Billion In Stock for First Commerce [Bloomberg News]
• FIRST NBC BANK HOLDING COMPANY [S-1]
• First NBC Bank shares rise on first trading day [New Orleans Advocate]
• Driving Forces: Ashton Ryan [New Orleans City Business]
• Inside the Industry: Banking | First NBC Bank [Biz New Orleans]
• First NBC profit inches upward [The Times-Picayune]
• First NBC: Statements not reliable [New Orleans Advocate]
• New Orleans’s Premier Bank, First NBC, Runs Into Problems [WSJ]
• First NBC Bank Co. deemed in 'troubled condition' by Fed [New Orleans Advocate]
• Regulators to review First NBC management, procedures, liquidity [New Orleans Advocate]
• First NBC proposes management shakeup; Ashton Ryan to remain as president but not CEO [New Orleans Advocate]
• Short of an outright sale, First NBC Bank deal 'a big step forward,' but challenges remain [New Orleans Advocate]
• New Orleans' troubled First NBC Bank anticipates further drop in value [New Orleans Advocate]
• First NBC Bank fails, ordered closed; will be absorbed by Whitney Bank [New Orleans Advocate]
• First NBC Bank's parent company files for bankruptcy protection [New Orleans Advocate]
• First NBC Bank Holding Company [8-K]
• Material Loss Review of First NBC Bank [FDIC OIG]
• Ashton Ryan Jr. steps down as president of troubled First NBC Bank [New Orleans]
• Sources: Federal grand jury opens probe into First NBC Bank meltdown, exploring bank's dealings with Gregory St. Angelo [New Orleans Advocate]
• Mandeville land deal involving ex-First NBC head Ashton Ryan subject of grand jury probe [New Orleans]
• Northshore Contractor Charged with Conspiracy to Defraud First NBC Bank [DOJ]
• Bank General Counsel Pleads Guilty To Conspiracy to Defraud First NBC Bank [DOJ]
• New Orleans Business Owner Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Defraud First NBC Bank [DOJ]
• Federal regulator sues auditor Ernst & Young for negligence over First NBC collapse [Times-Picayune]
• First NBC's former chief, Ashton Ryan, indicted on bank fraud and conspiracy charges [Times-Picayune]
• Grand Jury Returns Superseding Indictment Charging First NBC Bank Executives And A Borrower With Bank Fraud And False Statements [DOJ]
• In First NBC fraud trial, Mississippi developer says he built 'black hole' of debt with Ryan's help [Times-Picayune]
• 'I was never involved in any conspiracy;' Ashton Ryan takes stand in First NBC Bank fraud trial [Times-Picayune]

Jonathan Weil caught the journalism bug early. But it was his knack for spotting financial reporting sleight-of-hand that set him apart as a young reporter at the Wall Street Journal in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Caleb talks to Jon about the circumstances that led to him writing one of the earliest stories that questioned Enron’s accounting, his time peddling opinions as a columnist at Bloomberg, and his return to journalism after taking a spin through the hedge fund world.

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Routable - http://ohmyfraud.promo/routable
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Join Caleb and Greg live in New Jersey NJCPA Convention & Expo [NJCPA]

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.

https://www.earmark.app/

Download the app:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728
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CONNECT WITH CALEB
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/

Email us at [email protected]

Sources:
  Energy Traders Cite Gains, But Some Math Is Missing [WSJ]

  Dirty Secrets Fester in 50-Year Relationships [Bloomberg]

  Jonathan Weil [WSJ]

From Spanish Prisoners to Nigerian Princes, advance fee scams have endured for centuries, relying on victims to follow the same formula: pay first, regret later.

Sponsors
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• (00:00) - Introduction to Advanced Fee Scams

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.

https://www.earmark.app/

Download the app:

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LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/

Email us at [email protected]

Sources:

• Advance-fee scam [Wikipedia]
• Spanish Prisoner [Wikipedia]
• Pigeon drop [Wikipedia]
• The 9 Lives of the Spanish Prisoner, the Treasure-Dangling Scam That Won’t Die [Atlas Obscura]
• AN OLD SWINDLE REVIVED. [NYT/TimesMachine]
• Nigerian Scams [Know Your Meme]
• We’re All Somebody’s Fool | Dan Simons & Chris Chabris [OMF]
• The Psychology Behind Advance Fee Scams [Fraud, Risk and Compliance]
• Chief Executive Officer And Orchestrator Of $10 Million Advance Fee And Alaskan Gold Mine Investment Schemes Sentenced To More Than 20 Years’ Imprisonment [DOJ]
• After Bilking Victims of $10 Million, Serial Swindler Is Sentenced to Nearly 22 Years [NYT]
• Lengthy Prison Term for Advance Fee Fraudster [FBI]
• Two Convicted in Multi-Million-Dollar Advance Fee and Alaskan Gold Mine Investment Schemes [FBI]
• The centuries-old scam still fooling thousands every year [Telegraph]
• Almost 800 arrested over Nigerian crypto-romance scam [Reuters]
• Nigeria investigates nearly 800 suspects arrested in massive cybercrime raid [VOA]
• EFCC bursts syndicate run by foreigners in Lagos operating crypto investment, romance scam [Ripples Nigeria]
• We’re Not a Bank in Kansas Anymore [OMF]
• 363: Enforcers [This American Life]

A respected leader of an Australian national search and rescue operation isn’t who he claims to be.

Sponsors
Routable - http://ohmyfraud.promo/routable
Rightworks Rightnow 2025 - https://ohmyfraud.promo/rightnow2025 (use code OMF15 for 15% OFF)

• (00:00) - - Introduction to Richard Flanagan and John Friedrich

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.

https://www.earmark.app/

Download the app:

Apple: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/earmark-cpe/id1562599728
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.earmarkcpe.app

Join Caleb and Greg live in New Jersey NJCPA Convention & Expo [NJCPA]

CONNECT WITH CALEB
Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnewquist
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/calebnewquist/

Email us at [email protected]

Sources:

• Common seadragon [Wikipedia]
• List of impostors [Wikipedia]
• Fictional impostors [Wikipedia]
• National Safety Council of Australia [Wikipedia]
• Ash Wednesday bushfires [Wikipedia]
• John Friedrich (fraudster) [Wikipedia]
• The Story of John Friedrich: The Great Imposter [Australian Crime Stories / True Crime TV]
• Mr John FRIEDRICH Medal of the Order of Australia [Australian Government, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet]
• Friedrich and Flanagan: the con-man and his ghostwriter [Conversations / ABC]
• Richard Flanagan on lies, literature, and Australia’s greatest conman [The Guardian]