K is for Kiting

Anyone remember E.F. Hutton?

From E. F. Hutton 1980s ad, “When Hutton talks…” Photo from The Retrosite.com.

The brokerage company was famous for a 1980s ad campaign, “When E.F. Hutton talks… people listen.” E.F. Hutton became famous for something else. It was complicated, it was company-wide, and it went on for three years, until they were found guilty of thousands of counts of fraud involving millions of dollars.

The fraud was for kiting.

A Special Type of Fraud

Check kiting is a type of bank fraud that occurs because banks and merchants extend credit on customer checks, when they don’t know whether the customer has enough funds in the other bank. Criminals could open two bank accounts, then write checks between them, covering each bad check with another bad check.

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