Con Artist Hall of Infamy Announced

SAN FRANCISCO, July 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, business legends Warren Hellman and Arthur Rock announced the first, and one-of-a-kind, online Con Artist Hall of Infamy with Bernard Madoff as a featured inductee of 2009.

Halls of fame exist for everything from baseball to rock and roll. Now there's a place to take stock of our most memorable crooks: The Con Artist Hall of Infamy (www.thehallofinfamy.com). The website includes:

• 35 profiles, organized by type of con.
• The context of the con, including a timeline charting the relationship between fraudsters and the health of the stock market.
• Con Watch, a blog that covers the latest news on fraud and white-collar crime.

The Hall of Infamy aims to expose the long history of con artistry and explore some of the patterns that have occurred again and again. They might flourish in a booming market - but con artists are exposed when the cash dries up. Or, as Warren Buffet put it: "It's only when the tide goes out that you learn who's been swimming naked." Now is the time for a Con Artist Hall of Infamy. The tide has gone out, washing up on shore a new batch of Ponzi schemers and white collar criminals. The founders of the Hall of Infamy hope to put these crimes into context - to see how they fit into a long tradition of recurrent blind faith and oversight that might be prevented in the future.

Co-founder Warren Hellman stated, "When Bernie Madoff was sentenced this week for his incredible crime, it's hard not to wonder: What kind of person even attempts such a huge scam? Why didn't anyone see through the lies?"

Hellman continued, "We can't think of a more deserving con artist than Madoff to headline the 2009 inductee class and help launch www.theHallofInfamy.com. We know the list of inductees will grow this year but we suspect Madoff will remain our most infamous."

The Hall of Infamy's writer and researcher, Becca MacLaren, commented, "We're eager to make this collection as far-reaching through time and place as possible, with inductees from a variety of eras and countries. We'd also like to make it more diverse - we haven't yet inducted any women to the Hall of Infamy."

The Hall of Infamy is a collection of con artists from across the globe and over time. Inductees range from a Scotsman who bankrupted hundreds of Parisians in the 18th century to a 20-year kid who conned his way into millions on the booming stock market of the 1980s.

In nominating inductees to the Hall of Infamy, individuals have been, and will be selected, who meet one or more of the following criteria:

• Big money: Either he stole a significant amount or, in the case of stock fraud, caused shareholders to lose millions of dollars.
• Colorful character: His lies, greed or attempts at escape were bold and audacious.
• Impact: His crime resonated beyond his victims to impact an industry or compel new legislation.
• Guilt in a court of law: His guilt was proven beyond a reasonable doubt and, in most cases, he served time in prison.

Background on www.theHallofInfamy.com

Warren Hellman, co-founder of the global private equity firm Hellman & Friedman, and Arthur Rock, a Silicon Valley venture capitalist who was an early investor in companies such as Apple and Intel, kicked the Hall of Infamy idea around for several years. The Hall of Infamy concept started out as an observation by Warren and Arthur that there is no one place to go for the big picture on fraudsters and con artists. History records that waves of cons occur at peaks in the market - but who are these crooks? How did they get away with their scams?

In the summer of 2008, Warren and Arthur decided to create a "Who's Who" of the most audacious financial con artists - a collection of interest to a wide audience, from business schools eager to impress the importance of ethics on their students to any person who reads of the latest financial scandal and shakes his or her head in wonder and disgust.

Warren and Arthur contacted the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and found their researcher and writer: Becca MacLaren. To design and create the website, they chose Berkeley-based Pixelette Studios.

    CONTACT: PETER RAGONE
    (917) 885-0714