The Phantom Capitalists: The Organization and Control of Long-Firm Fraud

This book analyzes in detail how and why people become involved in long-firm (planned bankruptcy) fraud; the links between long-firm fraud and other crimes; the links between bankruptcy fraudsters and other professional and organized criminals; the techniques that fraudsters use; and the social and commercial relationships that exist within the operational world of the long-firm fraudster. The first part of the work is based largely on interviews with fraudsters while the second focuses on interviews with businessmen, credit controllers, lawyers, judges, police and other fraud investigators. The study also makes use of extensive documentary material from contemporary and historical police and court records. Originally published in the 1980s, the revised edition of this seminal work provides a new introduction written by the author to highlight the changing and unchanging relevance of the findings for a contemporary audience.