Company Frauds So Terrible You Won’t Believe They Actually Happened

CUC International Blows Its Merger

JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP/Getty Images

After merging with the Cendant Corporation in 1998, it was uncovered that CUC International had been inflating the companies revenue for the last three years. In total, CUC International’s revenue was overreported by $500 million. In 1997, for instance, CUC international reported a net income of $55.4 million when they had actually recorded a net loss of $217.2 million.

Top executive Kirk Shelton and Walter Forbes were indicted by a federal grand jury in 2001. Shelton was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and was released early for “exemplary behavior.” Forbes was sentenced to 12 years in prison and there are no reports about his behavior so far.