30. Waste Management
Year: 1998
Approx. Amount: $1.7 billion*
Company / Person Involved: Dean Buntrock
Waste Management was another company caught red-handed by the SEC (with the help of a company whistleblower). Waste Management, Inc., a trash disposal company, inflated its profits by a phony $1.7 billion in order to deceive investors. The scandal made Waste Management executives millions, and investors were defrauded out of a total of $6 billion.
Waste Management @LutherSeminary / Youtube.com
Not to mention, Waste Management’s reputation was tarnished for years to come. Revenues were not increasing as quickly as executives wanted, so they simply made up the numbers. We have A. Maurice Meyers, the company’s new CEO, to thank for uncovering the scandal. When Meyers assumed his CEO position in 1998, he discovered the fraud and immediately turned Waste Management into the SEC.