BUSY week

There's been plenty of fraud stories making the headlines this week starting, of course, with Bernie Madoff getting his 150 years behind bars. Ireland's white collar fraudsters such as Breifne O'Brien and Michael Lynn are still out and about while presumably the investigations plod on. The money will be well buried by now.

The good Doctor Emad Massoud (who features in The Fraudsters) was also in the news, appealing his four year sentence for insurance fraud. He claimed €730,000 after using his mother-in-law's tissue sample to make it appear as if his wife Gehan had suffered breast cancer. He claims the conviction was unsafe and should be set aside. The appeal court judges are now considering the case.

Ireland's Revenue Commissioners also issued a warning this week about a phishing scam purporting to come from them. Readers of Fakes, Frauds and Scams knew all about it since March.