Portrait of a fraud

And no, it is not Madoff. This is an in-depth look at the man whom I have posted about before on this blog here. Vanity Fair has the blow by blow account of how Marc Dreier turned bad. It is a fascinating look at the attorney who bilked several different types of investors (mostly hedge funds) for approximately 700 million dollars.

Consider this passage from the article, "Dreier says he can't remember the moment he actually began considering fraud. But he acknowledges the decision was made easier by a long track record of what he calls "cutting corners." As he acknowledges, "Yeah, I took advantage of expense accounts, statements on tax returns, that kind of thing. You know, I discovered once you cross a gray line it's much easier to cross a black line."

And thus the Harvard educated attorney turned criminal began his slide.