19. ZZZZ Best Cleaners
Year: 1986
Approx. Amount: $100 Million*
Company / Person Involved: Barry Minkow
ZZZZ Best Cleaners was the brainchild of Barry Minkow. He had always dreamed of having a carpet cleaning company that would become the “General Motors of carpet cleaning” or, at least, that’s what he claimed. What he really wanted was to “get rich quick”, and that’s just what his fraudulent business was meant to help him do.
ZZZZ Best Cleaners @jackjkelly / Pinterest.com
By forging about 20,000 or so documents and receipts Minkow managed to build a carpet cleaning empire, albeit a fake one, that went public in ’86 and had a market capitalization of over $200 million. He even went as far as to lease and renovate an office building. When found out, he was given 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $26 million in restitution.