Fraud: Deceit Among Scientists, Academics, Writers, and Philanthropists

While fraud is generally associated with the business world, this book demonstrates that there is also a good deal of fraud and deception among scientists, writers and philanthropists. Scientists will sometimes announce fraudulent findings in order to raise money for additional research projects. Since many scientists live by this "soft" money and have no other income, the temptation to claim results that never occurred is great. Likewise, authors and journalists may commit fraud by claiming that they saw something that they did not see or that an event occurred which never happened. There are also writers who steal the work of others and publish such material under their own name. There are executives of charitable organizations who steal the money donated to a charitable cause and there are clergy who steal from the members of their own parish, or sell objects that do not belong to them. Some members of the clergy use their trusted office to gain sexual favors from congregants while others entertain their friends at the expense of their congregations. This work is well documented and demonstrates that the notion of the aloof scientists or holy clergy may be no more than a myth, and that even in these professions all things are not what they seem.