Barry Minkow

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Barry Jay Minkow (born March 22, 1966) is a former American businessman, pastor, and a repeat convicted felon. While still in high school, Minkow founded ZZZZ Best (), which appeared to be an immensely successful carpet-cleaning and restoration company. However, it was actually a front to attract investment for a massive Ponzi scheme. ZZZZ Best collapsed in 1987, costing investors and lenders $100 million in one of the largest investment frauds ever perpetrated by a single person, as well as one of the largest accounting frauds in history. The scheme is often used as a case study of accounting fraud. After being released from jail, Minkow became a pastor and self-proclaimed fraud investigator in San Diego, and spoke at churches and schools about ethics. This came to an end in 2011, when he admitted to helping deliberately drive down the stock price of homebuilder Lennar and was sentenced to five years in prison. Three years later, Minkow admitted to defrauding his own church and was sentenced to an additional five years. He is subject to restitution requirements for his many crimes totaling $612 million.